All In The Family
by Fifilla
Summary: It was supposed to be a nice, relaxing Friday afternoon with family and friends but when the team comes unexpectedly face to face with a new main suspect in their current case the bad weekend turns into an even worse week.
1. Prologue

**All In The Family**

**Disclaimer:  
**Unfortunately I don't own anything of Hawaii Five-0, it all belongs to CBS. But I keep dreaming…

**Notes:  
**English is not my native language, so please forgive me my mistakes.

**Thanks:  
**Once again a huge thank-you to **JazzieG**, my wonderful beta reader, for betaing my story – it's so good to have you! You've done a fantastic job but I changed a tiny bit after you've read it so all remaining faults are my own!  
**rewob17**, I don't know what to do without our wonderful discussions about plotlines and titles (especially titles *sigh*) – thanks a lot for your help and patience!

* * *

"… a man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man."  
_Don Corleone in 'The Godfather' (1972)_

* * *

**Prologue:**

It was supposed to be a nice, relaxing Friday afternoon with his friends, with barbecue and cold beverages, fun and lots of laughter but now all that seemed to be nothing more than some mocking memories when Detective Danny Williams lay in the arms of his daughter, bleeding and barely conscious.

"Daddy?"

Grace's voice was shaking and tears were streaming down her cheeks, but Danny knew that she was trying to be strong for him. The fact that she didn't use the usual nickname 'Danno' told him clearly how distraught his little girl was but at the moment there was not much he could do about it. Her small hands pressed painfully against his lower back in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding, unintentionally increasing the pain that radiated from the gunshot wound and Danny gritted his teeth to suppress the groan that was building up in his chest.

"Daddy?" Grace asked once more and the little sob at the end of the word caused her father to gather all his remaining strength; taking a deep breath he blinked his eyes open to look at his daughter.

"It's… it's okay, Gracie," Danny whispered hoarsely, weakly nodding his head. He wished nothing more than to enfold her in his arms and bring her some comfort but at the moment that was impossible with his hands behind his back, bound together with his own handcuffs. "Everything's gonna be alright… You're doing great, monkey… you're doing great…"

Desperately clinging to the fragile threads of consciousness, Danny locked eyes with his daughter. His heart was breaking for her when he took in her pale face, the tear-streaked cheeks and her trembling lips but in her big brown eyes he could see a hint of strength and defiance and despite her young age, despite all the worry and fear he knew that she would be able to handle the current situation.

"Everything's gonna be alright…" Danny repeated slowly, sluggishly blinking a few times as he licked his dry lips. "Uncle Steve… will be back soon… he knows what to do…"

Feeling himself slip further away from his little girl with every passing second and with every painful beat of his heart Danny took another deep breath and gave Grace a last tender smile.

"Danno loves you," he breathed out just before the greedy darkness finally swallowed him entirely.

**(tbc)**

* * *

More soon… I promise :-)


	2. Chapter 1

Wow, I'm blown away by all your fantastic reviews! Thank you so much!

* * *

**Chapter 1:**

_Earlier that day:_

"Steven, where the hell are you?"

Danny yelled through the Five-0 headquarters, impatiently drumming his fingers on the surface of the big smart table in the middle of the room as he waited for his partner. Everyone else had left earlier that day to prepare for Chin's birthday party, leaving it to Steve and Danny to shut down the office for the weekend.

Pulling his cell phone out of his pocket, Danny threw a brief glance at the display, frowning angrily when he read the time. He cursed under his breath while he looked around for any sign of his partner, slowly stowing the little device away.

"You know that I have to pick up Grace and I don't intend to make her wait," Danny shouted, silently shaking his head when there was still no response. Staring down at the pictures and dates on the display of the smart table, he sighed wearily when he thought about their current case.

It had all started about three months ago with a few raids on small supermarkets and gas stations all around the island, always just before or directly after closing time when most of the customers had already left. Except of the storekeepers and their employees there were no other witnesses and unfortunately their reports differed greatly from each other. Some witnesses said there were two guys while some other said there were five or six. Some reports described them as old men, some as young men in their twenties or even teens. None of the witnesses could give a detailed description of the robbers because they were wearing black ski masks and apparently 'all looked alike'; the only similarity was the getaway car, a black GMC van with red painted rims and a red stripe along the side of the vehicle which had soon caused the newspapers to nickname the gang of robbers as the "A-Team".

Apart from the money the men had stolen cigarettes, canned food, tools and fuel but they never took other objects of value like jewelry or electronic equipment. They never made a big haul, leaving the employees behind frightened but mostly unharmed – until two days ago when they stabbed a young grocery clerk who had tried to be brave and prevent the theft. The husband and father of two had died from blood loss before help arrived, making the case overnight Five-0's top priority.

But so far the team hadn't been able to find any leads and after long hours of work they had finally decided to concentrate their search on the conspicuous car which seemed to disappear magically directly after the assaults. They had listed every possible garage or warehouse that was big enough to house a van but the search was slow and tiring and had brought absolutely no results until now.

Sighing deeply, Danny stared one last time at the facts of the case before he turned around and made his way across the room. Opening the door to Steve's office he poked his head inside and said loudly, "I'm going to leave without you if you don't get your lazy Army ass in gear…"

"Navy, Danno, it's the Navy," Steve's quiet voice interrupted him from behind, causing the smaller man to jump in surprise.

"Whoa! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Danny exclaimed, whirling around to face his partner who stared down at him in barely hidden amusement. "Don't do that again."

"What?" McGarrett asked back, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he grinned smugly. "Use my crafty SEAL abilities to sneak up on you?"

"Very funny; did you hire a ghostwriter for that line?" Danny retorted, waving his hands through the air to cut off any further discussion about this topic. "Where have you been?"

"Getting Chin's birthday present," Steve replied curtly, proudly nodding his head toward the smart table where a small box was waiting, artfully wrapped in blue and green paper with a huge yellow ribbon on top.

"Nice color selection," Danny remarked drily as he stared doubtfully at the loud colors of the gift wrap. Averting his gaze from the small box he turned his head to look at his partner, asking himself silently if Steve honestly thought that those colors were a good match.

But before Danny was able to voice this question, Steve interrupted his musings. "Are you coming?" he asked, slapping a hand on his friend's shoulder. "We're running late and I'm pretty sure you don't want to make Gracie wait."

"That's exactly what I just said, you moron, didn't I?" Danny huffed out, waving his hands in annoyance as he stared at his partner.

"Okay, then let's go," Steve said, pulling the car keys out of his pocket and playfully tossing them from one hand to the other. "I'm driving."

"What else is new," Danny replied drily, rolling his eyes at Steve's remark. "Don't forget our present; and remind me to tell Chin who was responsible for wrapping it."

"You don't like it?" Steve asked in genuine surprise, snatching the small box from the smart table as they walked out of the office.

"Well, let's just say it's really... colorful," Danny answered with a slight shake of his head as he once more looked at the bright yellow ribbon.

Fortunately he was spared from any further answer when his cell phone started to buzz. The familiar ringtone immediately brought a smile to Danny's face and without waiting for his daughter to say a word, Danny answered the call.

"Monkey, don't worry, we will be there soon," he said, raising his eyebrows as he threw his partner a brief side glance and grinned wryly, "In fact, we would have been there ages ago if Uncle Steve would have finished…"

"Don't listen to a word your father says, Gracie," Steve shouted good-humoredly, trying to snatch the little device out of Danny's hand. "It was entirely his fault…"

Steve's voice trailed off when Danny stopped dead in his tracks and his expression suddenly turned serious. "Hey, monkey, slow down, okay? I don't understand a word you're saying," he said tenderly, quickly changing the phone from his left ear to the right. "Calm down and stop crying, okay? Just tell me what happened."

"What's wrong?" Steve asked worriedly when he heard Danny's words, but the smaller man just shook his head and listened to whatever his daughter was telling him.

"Okay Gracie, that's better. And now tell me what's wrong," Danny calmly instructed his little girl, completely ignoring his partner who was standing next to him, nervously trying to figure out what was going on.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he will be alright," Danny said a few moments later, briefly turning his head toward Steve, indicating to him that whatever was the reason for Grace's phone call, it wasn't as dramatic as it had sounded at first. "No, that is not a problem, monkey, of course we can drive by the vet and get Mr. Hoppy's medication. We'll pick you up in about fifteen minutes, okay?"

Ending the call, Danny breathed out a small sigh before he looked at his partner. "Her rabbit has a sore tooth and the vet said if the fever doesn't break before the weekend we need to come back and get some more antibiotics. Now Grace is afraid that Mr. Hoppy will die, because some of her school friends obviously told her horror stories of dying pets."

**(tbc)**

* * *

I hope you enjoyed that slow chapter... I promise there will be action (and whump) very soon ;-)  
Have a nice weekend!


	3. Chapter 2

This is an early chapter for jlopie because she was threatening me with the infamous DWOCD cattle prod ;-)

* * *

**Chapter 2:**

Half an hour later Steve pulled the black Camaro into an empty parking spot in front of the animal clinic and turned off the engine.

"There we are, Gracie," he said, turning around in the driver's seat and giving Danny's daughter a genuine smile. "I'm sure Mr. Hoppy will be fine in next to no time."

"Thank you, Uncle Steve," Grace replied softly, briefly nodding her head. "I hope you're right."

"Okay, come on, monkey. Let's get Mr. Hoppy's antibiotics," Danny said as he exited the car and held the door open for Grace to climb out from the back seat. Exchanging a quick look with his partner, he added with a small grin, "We'll be back in a few minutes. Try not to blow up anything in the meantime."

Not waiting for Steve's answer he slammed the door shut and followed Grace to the entrance at the backside of the building. Once more holding the door open, Danny smiled at his daughter and took a playful little bow, "After you, madam."

"Thank you, Sir," Grace replied giggling, answering Danny's bow with a perfect little curtsey before she entered the clinic.

Glad to have raised his daughter's spirits a little bit, Danny shut the door behind him and looked around. At this time of the day, already a few minutes after regular closing time, the clinic was almost deserted. There were no more patients waiting and most of the staff seemed to have gone home. There was no one behind the reception desk but Danny could hear muffled voices from one of the adjacent rooms.

"Hello?" he called out, briefly smiling at Grace who had strolled up to the large fish tank at the end of the room.

The hushed conversation stopped and the door directly next to the fish tank opened a moment later, revealing a young, dark-haired woman in a white coat. "Sorry, but we are closed for the weekend," she said curtly, briefly rubbing her right hand across her eyes as if to wipe away some tears. "If it's not an emergency I'm afraid you'll have to come back on Monday."

"Oh no, sorry. I'm just here to pick up some medication for my daughter's rabbit," Danny answered, nodding his head toward Grace who watched the shoal of multicolored fish with fascination, not paying attention to the adults around her. "I think my ex-wife called earlier. Edwards?" Danny explained, hoping to jog the doctor's memory.

Staring blankly at the man in front of her, the young vet finally blinked a few times and furrowed her brow. "Ah yes, sure," she said, hesitantly nodding her head. "The antibiotics, right?"

"Yes, that's right," Danny answered patiently, curiously watching how the young woman once more rubbed her eyes before she took a deep breath and turned her head to look back into the room.

"Mikey, stay there, I'll be right back, okay?" she said, her voice holding an almost inaudible trembling.

The vet closed the door behind her and headed toward a rack near the reception desk, quickly rummaging the shelves before she turned around to hand Danny a small white paper bag.

"2 ml twice a day until…" she explained, interrupting herself mid-sentence when she noticed for the first time Danny's appearance. Her gaze flickered between his badge and his weapon and after a brief moment of shock she drew in a sharp breath and the bag dropped from her trembling hands.

Whirling around the woman nervously checked the closed door next to the fish tank before she hastily bent down to pick up the medication.

"Further instructions are inside," she rattled off while she shoved the paper bag in Danny's hands. "If there's anything else I can do for you, please don't hesitate to call."

She threw another nervous look at the room she had left moments ago and her whole body language and behavior made clear that she wanted her visitors to leave the clinic as fast as possible.

"Is everything alright?" Danny asked quietly, inconspicuously letting his gaze travel across the room. He suddenly had a bad feeling about the whole situation and he quickly called out for his daughter, "Grace, come on, we're leaving."

"Danno, look at this," Grace said excitedly without averting her attention from the colorful fish. "They are beautiful, this one here is…"

She winced in surprise when the door next to her suddenly opened with a loud bang and a tall, lean man stepped out of the room. His shoulder-length dark hair was greasy, matching his shabby appearance and his pale skin.

'Junkie,' was Danny's first impression and he involuntarily tensed his muscles when his inner alarm bells flared to life.

"Grace, come here," he repeated urgently, absolutely trusting his instincts and his years of experience as a cop.

"Steff, what is taking so long?" the man slurred hoarsely, suspiciously eyeing first the young doctor and then the white paper bag. His eyes narrowed dangerously when his gaze fell on Danny's badge and without further hesitation he produced a knife out of his pocket.

"You called the cops?" he growled, reaching out for Grace who was still standing in front of the large fish tank. He grabbed her brown hair with his left hand, violently yanking her small body against his chest, and in one swift move he pressed the knife against her throat and retreated back into the doorframe.

Crying out in pain and surprise, the girl involuntarily raised her hands to reach for her aching scalp but she didn't dare to move again when the man tightened his grip and she felt the cold metal of the knife beneath her chin.

"Daddy…" she whimpered, a single tear running down her cheek as she stared wide-eyed at her father.

"Mikey, don't!" the young vet screamed at the same time as Danny reached for his weapon.

"Let her go," he demanded coldly, briefly wondering how steady his voice sounded despite the lump in his throat and despite the fact that his heart was beating loudly in his chest. A cold surge of adrenaline rushed through his body and he turned his whole attention to his daughter and the man who was holding her hostage, blocking out everything else around him. "Drop the knife and let her go," Danny repeated, aiming his weapon at the man's head as he took a small step forward. His fingers tightened painfully around the handle of his gun and it took all of his willpower not to jump forward and yank his little girl out of the man's grip.

"Mikey, please," the dark-haired woman next to Danny begged desperately, not daring to move a muscle as she stared at the young man. "What are you doing? Please, let her go."

"Stop telling me what I have to do, big sister," the man spat out as he quickly took another step back into the room and out of Danny's line of fire. "And stop calling me Mikey; I'm not five anymore."

"Michael, please…" the vet repeated pleadingly, falling silent when Danny slightly raised his hand to cut her off.

"Michael, listen to me," Danny said firmly, quickly seizing the man's name. "Whatever it is, I'm sure we can solve your problem, but please, let my daughter go. She's only a girl; she has nothing to do with all this." He slowly moved forward until he got a good look at Grace and white-hot rage suddenly pulsed through his veins when he took in the angry red mark where the knife was pressed against her skin.

"I don't have a problem," Michael replied, drawling the words as he slightly shook his head. "But you might have one very soon if you don't stop aiming your gun at me." He grinned diabolically as he grabbed another fistful of Grace's hair and yanked her head back so that she was forced to raise her chin and expose her throat.

Danny's whole body started to tremble in anger and fear when he saw the tears that streamed down his daughter's face and the silent sobs that racked her slender body. "I swear to God, if you hurt her…" he hissed helplessly, trying desperately to find a way to save his little girl.

"Just drop your weapon," Michael repeated pointedly, slowly pressing the knife tighter against Grace's neck, causing the little girl to breath out a whimper of pain.

"Please, stop it," Danny begged, giving up all his resistance when he saw a drop of blood appearing at the edge of the knife. He breathed heavily when he finally soothingly raised his hands and slowly crouched down to place his gun on the floor, never averting his eyes from the two people in front of him. "Please, don't hurt her. Please…"

"Empty your pockets and put everything next to the gun on the floor," Michael instructed coldly without taking notice of Danny's pleading. He threw a brief look at his sister, making sure that the young vet stayed put but the woman was apparently much too scared to do anything. She just stood rooted to the spot, one hand pressed against her mouth, the other deeply shoved into the pocket of her white coat.

"I'm doing everything you ask, now please let her go," Danny tried to reason while he followed Michael's orders and emptied his pockets. Placing his wallet, his keys, his cell phone, his handcuffs and his badge next to the gun on the floor he slowly stood up, his hands trembling visibly when he slightly raised them in a placatory gesture.

"Not yet," the dark-haired man answered, completely ignoring the pitiful sobs from his young hostage. The knife was still pressed tightly against Grace's throat and with every ragged breath she was taking, another small drop of blood appeared and slowly trickled down her neck. "I think I still have a use for her."

"Please…" Danny begged hoarsely, almost feeling bodily pain when he watched the scene in front of him. His mind was completely numb and he just knew that he would do everything to save his daughter; he was willing to do whatever the man asked of him. "Please, let her go."

"Step away from the items on the floor, then lie down on your stomach and cross your hands behind your back," Michael ordered, still not responding to any of Danny's pleas.

**(tbc)**

* * *

I hope you still enjoy! Thanks again for all your reviews, they really make my day :-)


	4. Chapter 3

This is a get-well-soon-chapter for everyone who's sick or under the weather - especially for JazzieG, cargumentluv, TheDogo... and CinderH's truck!

* * *

**Chapter 3:**

Not willing to take any risk with Grace in the hands of that madman who had already proven that he didn't hesitate to hurt the little girl, Danny did what he was ordered and dropped to his knees. After a last look at his daughter he lay down on his stomach and crossed his hands behind his back, nervously awaiting further instructions. He had absolutely no idea how a normal Friday afternoon had gone south so quickly and his last hopes to save the day were pinned on his partner. They were already gone much longer than the anticipated few minutes and knowing Steve, Danny was sure that the Ex-SEAL would soon be tired of patiently waiting in the car. He just hoped that Steve's sudden appearance wouldn't trigger any unwanted moves – after all, Michael still had a knife pressed against Grace's throat.

"Stefanie, my dear sister," Michael's voice interrupted Danny's dark musings and he slightly raised his head to see what was going on. "Would you be so kind and help me?" His words were no longer slurred and Danny slowly came to the conclusion that his first impression might have been wrong. Michael definitely had the looks of a junkie and a vet clinic was probably a good place to stock up his drug supplies, especially if his sister was working there. But now Danny wasn't so sure anymore; the way Michal talked and the casual intimacy he handled the knife with told him that there might be more behind it than what was obvious at first sight.

"Michael, why are you doing this?" Stefanie asked teary-eyed, nervously tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear over and over again.

"You know exactly what this is all about," Michael replied quietly, throwing his sister an icy look. He narrowed his eyes and eyeballed her from head to toe but after a few seconds he snorted derisively, obviously deciding to drop the topic. "Take the handcuffs," he instructed the woman, sharply nodding his head toward the items on the floor.

The young woman hesitated briefly, but then she stiffly walked across the room and bent down to pick up the handcuffs. Fidgeting with them for a moment, she took a deep breath and took a step toward Danny who was still lying on the floor, his eyes keeping glued to his daughter. Grace was no longer sobbing but her face was contorted in a mask of fear, her cheeks wet from the tears she had shed. She was breathing fast but very shallowly, her dark eyes begging her father to help her.

"Don't be so shy, Steff," Michael said, chuckling quietly as he watched his sister. "You've never been so shy when it came to stealing. You were really good when we were kids and I remember that Dad loved you for your talent." Once more he huffed out a derisive snort, "My little pickpocket, isn't that what he always called you?"

"Those times are long gone, Mikey," Stefanie replied forcefully, oblivious to her brother's grimace of disgust when he heard his childhood nickname. "I have a new life now, I…"

"Enough," the dark-haired man interrupted her angrily, involuntarily tensing his muscles as he icily stared at his sister. The movement caused Grace to whimper in pain when the knife cut a little deeper into her skin.

"Stefanie, please, just do what he says," Danny desperately begged the young woman, barely holding back a sob as he helplessly watched his daughter's ordeal. "Grace, everything will be alright; just hang in there, baby. Everything will be alright," he addressed his little girl, speaking the words for her sake as well as for his own.

"That cop is a smart man," Michael said chuckling, briefly looking down at Danny with a hint of admiration before he locked eyes with his sister. "And now cuff him," he instructed coldly and this time the tone of his voice made perfectly clear that he wouldn't accept any further delay.

Crouching down, Stefanie fiddled with the handcuffs for a long moment before she finally placed them around Danny's wrists and clicked them shut.

"Tighter," her brother ordered curtly, making sure that Danny wasn't able to free himself. He smiled smugly while he watched his sister carrying out his order and heard Danny's low moan when the cold metal cut painfully into his skin. "And now, my little pickpocket, step away from him," Michael said, hissing out their father's pet name for his sister. "And then…"

"No," Danny interrupted him mid-sentence, vigorously shaking his head while he struggled into an upright position, his hands bound behind his back. "I did what you ask; now release my daughter," he demanded, his voice dangerously quiet. The look out of his blue eyes was deadly and he didn't blink once when he stared at Grace's captor.

Looking back at the kneeling detective, Michael cocked his head a little bit to the right, keeping silent for a long time as he thought about Danny's words. Just when the silence became almost unbearable, the dark-haired man began to laugh quietly and lowered his right hand, finally removing the knife from Grace's neck.

"I think I really like that guy," he chuckled good-humoredly, giving Grace a forceful push from behind so that she stumbled forward against Danny's chest. He briefly watched the tearful family reunion before he turned around and violently grabbed his sister's arm. "And now give me my damn money."

* * *

Steve stared out the window, unconsciously drumming his fingers on the steering wheel of Danny's Camaro. He breathed out a long impatient sigh when he threw a look at the display of his cell phone. Danny and Grace had been gone for almost ten minutes, a lot longer than his partner had originally estimated.

Looking around in the car Steve's gaze fell on Chin's birthday present and a proud little smile crept across his face when he grabbed the small box and took in the artful wrapping. Fondly twiddling with the bright yellow ribbon he thought about Danny's words, briefly furrowing his brow in confusion. He had no idea what the other man didn't like about the colors of the gift wrap, in Steve's opinion they were a perfect match.

McGarrett threw another brief glance out the window but there was still no sign of Danny or his daughter. Pondering for a moment, he decided that it was time to see what was taking them so long. With a last proud smile Steve cautiously placed Chin's present on the dashboard and opened the driver's door; he was just about to exit the car when his cell phone started to ring.

Dropping back into the seat, Steve quickly looked at the caller's ID before he pressed the phone to his ear with a defeated little sigh. "Yes Max, what do you have?" he asked, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the headrest as he listened to the, as usual, very detailed report of the medical examiner about Five-0's latest case.

* * *

Time seemed to stand still when Danny stared at the young man who was holding his daughter hostage.

He didn't feel the cold metal of the handcuffs cutting painfully into the skin of his wrists or the dull throbbing in his right knee as he knelt on the hard floor. All he felt was his heart hammering in his chest and the fear for his beloved daughter that filled his whole being.

The blood was rushing loudly in his ears, blocking out every other sound but after what seemed to be an eternity he finally saw how Michael's lips curled into a smile and moments later the knife was removed from Grace's throat.

Exhaling a long shaky breath, Danny felt how his whole body began to tremble when his little girl stumbled against his chest and tightly engulfed him in a hug, pressing her face against the crook of his neck to hide her piteous sobs.

"It's okay, Gracie, everything's gonna be alright," he whispered, cursing the handcuffs that bound his hands behind his back. Danny wished nothing more than to hold his daughter in his arms and never let her go but all he was able to do right now was to press his cheek against her brown hair and murmur meaningless nonsense in her ear to bring her some comfort.

Danny heard Michael and Stefanie talking angrily to each other and he knew he should probably pay more attention to their words but before he could bring himself to completely concentrate on the siblings he needed to make sure that Grace was alright.

"Gracie… monkey," he said softly, reluctantly turning his head and slightly nudging Grace with his shoulder. "Let me see your neck."

It took a little more time and some more comforting words from her father but finally Grace stopped crying and slightly backed away. She snuffled a few times while she wiped the tears from her eyes but then she took a deep shuddering breath and raised her head to show Danny the wound on her neck.

Gritting his teeth in anger and helplessness when he saw Grace's bloodstained T-shirt Danny had to force himself to take a closer look at the wound. He sighed in relief when he noticed that the cut didn't seem to be very deep and that it had already stopped bleeding.

"Does it hurt?" he asked gently, quickly shaking his head when Grace raised her right hand and tried to touch the small incision. "No, leave it alone, monkey," Danny said, giving his daughter a small, reassuring smile. "It has already stopped bleeding."

"It's stinging a little bit, but it's not too bad," Grace answered in a low whisper, bravely gulping back some more tears.

"That's my little girl," Danny said, bending forward to place a tender kiss on his daughter's brow before he lightly rested his forehead against hers. "Everything will be alright, okay?" he whispered, waiting a moment until he felt Grace's hesitant nod.

"What does that man wants from us, Daddy?" Grace asked haltingly, snuffling once more as she briefly glanced back over her shoulder before she locked eyes with her father.

"I don't know, Grace, I don't know," Danny answered, sadly shaking his head. "But I promise he won't hurt you again."

"Okay," the little girl answered and Danny's heart almost burst with love when he saw the unlimited trust in her big brown eyes. "What do we do now?"

"I'll try to find a way out of here, but I want you to stay near to me all the time, okay?" Danny said quietly, once more waiting for Grace's affirmative nod before he slowly struggled to his feet.

Biting back a pained moan when he stretched his bad knee he immediately took a small step sideways to bring his own body between Grace and the man who had hurt her. Danny smiled briefly when he felt a touch behind his back and he happily curled his fingers around Grace's smaller ones, intending to never let her go as long as they were in the hands of that lunatic.

Now that he knew that Grace was more or less alright, Danny was finally able to concentrate on something other than his daughter. He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders, turning his attention to the young vet and her brother. Over the last few minutes he had listened with half an ear and most of the conversation seemed to be about their childhood and their parents. Their words had become louder and louder and by now the siblings were arguing heatedly, but they immediately stopped their discussion when they noticed that Danny had stood up.

"Michael," Danny addressed the dark-haired man before he could rise to speak. "It's bad enough that you took your sister and a police officer hostage, so I suggest you should at least release my daughter."

He briefly squeezed Grace's fingers as he watched the expression on Michael's face change from astonishment to utter amusement.

"Nice try," Michael said, shaking his head as he chuckled quietly. "But I think keeping her will probably make you a lot more cooperative."

Gritting his teeth when he heard Michael's answer, Danny tried to keep his frustration and fear at bay. Not that he had honestly thought that his plan would have worked but he had to take every opportunity to bring Grace to safety.

"Not that I actually need you or your lovely daughter," Michael explained while he strolled across the room, pensively looking down at Danny's belongings on the floor. A nasty little smile crept across his lips as he slowly raised his right foot and repeatedly stamped it onto the black cell phone until the display splintered with a sickening crunch. Obviously very satisfied with his action Michael nodded his head once before he bent down to pick up Danny's weapon. "But it's always good to have a little backup plan, isn't it?"

Skillfully checking the gun he released the safety catch and trained the weapon at Danny's right leg before he turned towards his sister. "Maybe my dear sister will finally give me my money when I shoot the cop in the leg?" he pondered, cocking his head a little bit to the right as he looked expectantly at the young woman. "Or maybe a bullet in the chest?"

He raised the weapon a little bit when Stefanie just stared at him wide-eyed, faintly shaking her head. "On the other hand," Michael said slowly, his voice holding an almost bored tone as he started to grin maliciously and pointed the gun directly at Danny's head, "There's no good reason to keep him alive."

**(tbc)**

* * *

You all love my little cliffhangers, don't you? ;-)


	5. Chapter 4

Thank you so much for all your fantastic reviews! :-)

* * *

**Chapter 4:**

"Michael, no!" Stefanie shrieked anxiously, while Danny's fingers tightened around Grace's small hands, making sure that the girl was completely hidden behind his body.

Tensing his muscles, Danny stood stock-still, his thoughts racing as he tried to find a way out of this mess. He had seen the coldness in the younger man's eyes and he was sure that Michael wouldn't hesitate to shoot him if it served his needs.

"Michael, please," Stefanie said, her voice trembling audibly. Hesitantly stepping closer to her brother she took a deep breath, obviously searching for the right words to get through to him. "You can't be serious…" she stuttered, desperately raising her hands as she briefly squeezed her eyes shut. "You can't just kill a man…"

"Oh, don't be so sure," Michael spat out, dangerously narrowing his eyes. "Do you think I'm not capable of killing someone? Then let me tell you something, big sister..." His voice trailed off and a myriad of emotions flashed across his face before he slowly wetted his lips and squared his shoulders.

"Do you want to know what happened to our father after you and Mom left?" Michael asked sharply, the gun still trained at Danny's head. "Do you want to know what happened when he didn't stop beating the crap out of me every single day?" His voice became louder and louder with every word he said until he finally screamed out his final question, "Do you want to know how old I was when I killed him?"

"You did what?" Stefanie whispered wide-eyed, breathing heavily and shaking her head in denial while she slowly shrank back from her brother.

"I dealt with all the beating and the pain for five long years," Michael said, completely ignoring his sister's interjection. He was speaking slowly and quietly and it almost seemed that he talked more to himself than to the people around him. "You and Mom left me alone with a father who was forcing me to rob and steal so that he had enough money to finance his alcohol and drug addiction; a father who was beating me with his fists or with his belt or with whatever else he could find when I didn't bring home enough money. Five years, Stefanie!"

Michael was now breathing equally heavily as his sister and they silently stared at each other for a long moment. Tears were running down Stefanie's cheeks and she knotted her fingers in shock and horror when her brother once more raised his voice. "I was thirteen years old when I killed for the first time," Michael said coldly, "so you can believe me when I say that I'm more than capable of killing a man."

There was a long moment of stunned silence after Michael's horrible announcement, only disturbed by Stefanie's occasional sobs.

"Enough of that," Michael finally growled as he stepped closer to his sister, violently grabbing her upper arm. "I'm not here to exchange old family stories. All I want is my damn money."

Michael's right hand was still raised, aiming the gun toward its owner, never giving Danny the slightest chance to interfere. Maybe Danny would have tried to escape his captor if he had been alone, but with Grace by his side he didn't dare to risk anything. His only hope was set on his partner, wishing for once that McGarrett pulled one of his stupid stunts to rescue them. Feeling Grace fidgeting behind his back he gently squeezed her small hands to comfort her, taking the opportunity to stimulate the blood flow to his fingers. The handcuffs were closed much too tightly around his wrists and his hands had started to tingle uncomfortably a few minutes ago.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Michael," Stefanie sobbed, looking honestly confused when she replied to her brother. "What money?"

"Don't be so stupid!" Michael yelled impatiently, forcefully shoving the young woman away so that she stumbled backwards against the reception desk. Crying out in pain, Stefanie vigorously shook her head as she pressed one hand against her aching back, defensively raising her other hand in an attempt to sooth the agitated man.

"Please Michael, you have to believe me. I have no idea what you're talking about," she whispered, shrinking back when the dark-haired man slowly approached her.

"Stay where you are," Michael said coldly, briefly nodding his head toward Danny. "I swear I will shoot him if you don't stop it. And I'm sure you don't want to have his death on your conscience, right?" Grinning smugly when he watched his sister stop dead in her tracks, Michael breathed out a long, annoyed sigh.

"Alright, big sister, now listen closely," he said dangerously quietly, narrowing his eyes as he cocked his head a little bit to the right. "I'm talking about all the money you and Mom took with you when you disappeared all those years ago. Not only were you suddenly gone overnight, leaving an eight-year-old boy alone with his violent, alcoholic fuck of a father; no, you also took all our money and everything of value you could find in our shitty little apartment." Briefly interrupting himself to take a few deep breaths, Michael squared his shoulders before he resumed his explanations, "I did some research after I heard of our mother's death earlier this year, you know? And I was quite surprised when I found out that she left you a small fortune, my dear sister. I have no idea how she managed to raise that much money and frankly I don't give a damn. I just want to have back what is rightfully mine; after all I went through I have earned my fair share, don't you think?"

Listening to her brother's speech, Stefanie stared wide-eyed at the man in front of her, turning paler and paler with every word he said. Pressing a trembling hand against her chest she faintly shook her head as she whispered, devastated, "I don't have that money anymore. Please Mikey, you have to believe me. I would give it to you but I put all the money into the clinic here…" Her voice trailed off and she started to sob again, not daring to look at her brother.

"There's nothing left?" Michael asked doubtfully after a moment of heavy silence, angrily running his left hand over his face. "Nothing at all?"

"No," Stefanie breathed out wearily, slightly shaking her head. "I even had to borrow money to buy into the clinic." Her gaze darted from Michael to Danny and then back to her brother. "I'm sorry," she whispered, leaving it open as to which of the two men her words were directed.

"Okay," Michael replied curtly after a short moment of contemplation, sharply nodding his head when he had obviously come to a conclusion. "If you are not able to pay me off, I guess I will have to look for a different solution. There's probably more than enough stuff here that can be turned into cash, right? Why don't we start with all the nice drugs you use for your fluffy little patients? I'm sure I will be able to get a good price for them on the black market."

"What? No, Michael, I can't do that," the vet replied, staring dumbfounded at the dark haired man. "I can't give you any drugs… I will lose my license…" she stammered helplessly, only to be interrupted by her brother.

"Do I look like I give a damn?" Michael asked dismissively, briefly smiling at his sister before he turned serious and his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Where do you keep the stuff?"

"Michael, please…" Stefanie tried to reason, snapping her mouth shut and fearfully shrinking back when Michael started to yell.

"Where the hell do you keep the stuff?"

"Basement," the young woman whispered teary-eyed, tightly crossing her arms in front of her chest as if she was feeling cold. "There's a large storage room in the basement."

"That's my little pickpocket," Michael said mockingly, giving his sister a content little grin before he looked over at Danny. Nodding toward the open corridor he slightly waved the gun with a flick of his right wrist, instructing his hostages to walk in front of him, "Okay, then let's go; you lead the way, cop."

* * *

Steve felt like he had spent an eternity on the phone, first listening to Max Bergman's endless explanations of how exactly the victim had been killed, how deep the cut had been and that the murder weapon had probably been a butcher's knife or an equally large blade.

Then right after that first call his phone had rung once more, and this time it was Charlie Fong, telling him about every single hair, cell or fiber they had found at the crime scene. The young lab technician was just in the middle of a detailed report about some traces of soil when Steve's cell phone started to beep nervously, indicating that it was high time to charge the battery and a few moments later the call suddenly disconnected completely.

Staring at the black display for a long moment McGarrett finally tossed the cell phone onto the passenger's seat, breathing out a weary sigh as he rubbed his eyes. He couldn't say that he was especially sad about the fact that there wouldn't be any more calls in the near future. His head was spinning from all the information he had just received and the prospect of a cool beer and a good barbecue at Chin's birthday party was now more attractive than ever.

Steve furrowed his brow when he threw a look at his watch; Danny and Grace had been gone for more than twenty minutes and he was tired of waiting for them in the car. Leaving the useless phone behind, he made his way toward the backside of the building and easily found the entrance to the vet clinic.

Pushing the entry door open, Steve slowly walked inside and looked around. The clinic seemed to be totally deserted, there was absolutely no sound or movement except for the quiet bubbling of the fish tank at the other side of the lobby and the shoal of colorful fish dashing through the water.

"Hello?" Steve asked loudly, hesitantly stepping closer to the fish tank so that he was able to look around the corner and down the corridor. "Is anybody there?"

His voice trailed off when his gaze fell on a bunch of items on the floor; next to the blue and golden badge he recognized Danny's wallet and keys and what was left of his partner's cell phone. The display was splintered and the small black device looked like someone had purposely stepped on it to squash it.

"What the hell…" Steve muttered, gritting his teeth when he noticed that not only Danny's handcuffs but also his gun was missing.

Swiftly drawing his own weapon McGarrett looked around once more before he silently walked down the corridor, carefully checking every room for anything suspicious. He desperately hoped that there was a good reason for Danny's and Grace's disappearance and that both of them were alright but his hopes were shattered in the blink of an eye when the muffled sound of a gunshot disrupted the silence of the empty clinic.

"Damn," Steve murmured under his breath, helplessly shaking his head as he tried to decipher where the shot had come from. "Danny, where the hell are you?"

Instinctively reaching into his pocket to pull out his cell phone, Steve swore vilely when he remembered that he had left it in the car; throwing a quick look back over his shoulder, Steve doubted that Danny's phone was still working. He pondered for a moment if he should go back to the reception desk and use the landline to call for backup, but he quickly discarded the idea when he heard a second gunshot, and this time he was sure that it came from the basement.

**(tbc)**


	6. Chapter 5

Are you ready for some action?

* * *

**Chapter 5:**

Danny looked down at his daughter who was tightly clinging to his side, sending her a tender, reassuring smile. He saw the love and trust in her big brown eyes when she looked back at him, fully knowing that she waited for him to dig out some superhero abilities and save the day.

Sighing inwardly, Danny let his gaze travel across the large goods elevator that was bringing them down to the basement. He knew that his chances were more than limited with a gun pointed at his head, with his hands bound behind his back and with not only Grace by his side but also the young vet who was still trying to reason with her brother. But however small his chances might be, Danny never ceased looking around for any possibility to escape or to overcome their captor; and besides there was still the ace up his sleeve.

Biting back a grim smile when he thought about his partner, Danny knew for sure that an angry Ex-SEAL was definitely not what Michael had asked for. And there was absolutely no doubt that Steve would be very angry once he found out that something happened to his best friend and his adopted niece. Quickly calculating the time in his head, Danny hoped that Steve had left the car by now and that he was already looking for them; he just wished that he would have been able to drop Steve a hint about what was going on.

"Where is that storage room?" Michael growled impatiently as soon as the doors opened, shoving first his sister and then Danny and Grace out of the elevator and into a dark corridor.

"Over there, down the corridor," Stefanie replied quietly, taking a step to the left to hit her hand against a light switch on the wall. A few neon tubes hesitantly flickered to life, bathing the wide corridor in a dim cold light. The buzzing of the tubes intermingled with the dull sound of some washing machines that were doing their job in one of the rooms the small group of people passed on their way to the storage room.

Inconspicuously looking around, Danny took in every tiny detail of his surroundings, storing it away for later use. Next to the elevator was a heavy gray door that led to the staircase and was probably the only other possible escape route. Most of the four or five doors along the corridor were open, revealing another laundry room with even more washing machines, a storage room with metal cages of all sizes and a small, apparently unused changing room with old, rusty lockers.

Grace coughed faintly, wrinkling her nose in disgust when she took in the smell, an uncomfortable mix of detergent, wet dog fur and cat urine. Snuggling even closer to her father, she pressed one hand over her nose and mouth, throwing Danny another pleading look.

"Here it is," Stefanie said, pointing at one of two closed doors at the end of the corridor. She crossed her arms in front of her body and stepped to the side, granting her brother access to the room.

"Stay where you are," Michael instructed curtly, threateningly waving the gun in Danny's and Grace's direction. A smug little grin appeared on his gaunt face but his expression immediately turned serious when he pressed down the handle and tried to open the door.

"Very funny, big sister," he said coldly, grabbing Stefanie's arm and shoving her towards the locked door. "Open it."

Defiantly pressing her lips together, Stefanie stared at the dark-haired man for a long moment before she finally pulled a large set of keys out of the left pocket of her white coat. Ignoring Michael's impatient fidgeting she took her time to search for the right key, taking a deep breath as she once more looked expectantly at her brother.

"Open it," Michael repeated angrily, giving her another forceful push. Stefanie stumbled forward and the set of keys slipped from her hands, dropping to the floor with a loud rattling sound.

"Oh, for God's sake," Michael exclaimed furiously, bending down at the same time as Stefanie also tried to pick up the keys.

The siblings bumped against each other and all of a sudden Danny felt a cold shiver run down his spine. He involuntarily held his breath, tensing his muscles when he stared at the two people; his cop senses were tingling and he couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen soon. Taking a small step to the left he made sure that Grace was hidden behind him, shielding her with his own body as well as possible.

"I know you did that on purpose," Michael growled as he grabbed the keys and stood up. Menacingly towering above his sister, he dangerously narrowed his eyes before he raised the left hand with the keys and forcefully slapped her in the face.

Grace shrieked in fear when the young woman stumbled backwards, tightly clasping Danny's bound hands behind his back as she snuggled closer to her father.

Moaning in pain, Stefanie fearfully pressed her back against the wall of the corridor as she stared wide-eyed at her brother, one hand deeply shoved into the pocket of her coat. An angry red mark was showing on her left cheek and she hesitantly raised her other, slightly trembling hand to touch her split lip that was bleeding sluggishly.

"Don't ever do that again!" Michael spat out, making sure that he still had the gun trained on Danny when he started to unlock the door.

Danny nervously curled his tingly, almost numb fingers around Grace's smaller ones, barely daring to breathe as he watched the scene in front of him. Distracted for the blink of an eye when the door to the storage room finally opened, Michael didn't notice that Stefanie's gaze briefly flickered over to Danny before she took a deep breath and squared her shoulders.

Very slowly the young woman pulled her right hand out of her pocket, her fingers tightly closed around the handle of Michael's knife. Despite the grave situation they were in, Danny had to admit that he was a little bit impressed; Stefanie's actions were proving that she had well earned her childhood nickname and that she had obviously forgotten nothing since her time as a teenage pickpocket.

Unfortunately her skills as a knife-thrower were not half as good or maybe she was just lacking in resoluteness, subconsciously shrinking back from hurting her brother. Stefanie threw the knife with all her might, at the same time whirling around and heading for the second closed door next to the storage room.

Michael instinctively raised his arm to protect himself when he noticed the movement from the corner of his eye, howling with surprise, pain and anger when the knife scraped his left forearm before it uselessly clattered to the floor. With a shout of rage he chased after his sister, trying to grab a fistful of her long dark hair before she managed to escape, but he was a split second too late; breaking free from Michael's grasp, Stefanie pushed open the door and started to run.

Danny caught a brief glimpse of a narrow staircase but he quickly had to turn his attention back on the young man in front of him. Cursing loudly, Michael turned around and pointed the gun at his sister and for the very first time since Michael had taken them hostage, Danny finally saw a good chance to interfere, now that the weapon was no longer trained at his head. He knew that it was risky with his hands bound behind his back but Danny had no more time to think, acting on pure instinct.

"Grace, run," he shouted, trusting his daughter to know what to do. Grace was a smart little girl and Danny was positive that she would understand his unsaid instructions and try to race upstairs to get her Uncle Steve. His words still hovering in the air, Danny made a fast step forward and placed a well-aimed kick to Michael's right hand, causing the weapon to drop from his grip. It hit the ground and Danny's heart skipped a beat when the gun went off with a deafening sound, reverberating loudly in the wide corridor. He wanted nothing more than to make sure that Grace was alright but stopping now was not an option.

Gritting his teeth, Danny reluctantly bit back any concern about his little girl; the expression on his face was hard and cold when he took advantage of Michael's momentary confusion, placing a second kick directly in the other man's groin.

Michael went down to his knees with an agonized groan that made Danny almost feel sorry for him; he knew this kind of pain from personal experience and he would gladly give everything he had to never feel it again. But then he remembered what Michael had done to Grace, his hands in her hair, the knife pressed to her slender neck, the blood dripping from the cut, and the tiny moment of pity vanished into thin air.

Leaving nothing to chance, Danny kicked the other man a third time, this time his black leather loafer connected forcefully with Michael's right temple. The dark-haired man collapsed to the ground with a soft moan, his body twitched once before his eyes fluttered closed and he lay completely still.

Breathing heavily, Danny looked around for his gun; unable to pick it up with his hands cuffed behind his back he gave the weapon an angry kick to bring it out of Michael's reach. Satisfied with his actions he whirled around to follow Grace upstairs, only to notice that his daughter was waiting for him at the heavy door that led to the staircase.

"Grace, go," he repeated urgently as he started to awkwardly run up to her, frowning worriedly when he saw Grace defiantly shaking her head and pressing her lips together. Hearing a soft moan and the rustling of clothes behind him, Danny threw a quick look back over his shoulder when he heard Michael hoarsely call out for his sister.

"Stefanie, come back here," Michael yelled, struggling to his feet noticeably dazed. Supporting himself on the wall he looked around in search for a weapon, stumbling forward when he finally spotted Danny's gun quite a few steps down the corridor. "Stay where you are."

Unsure if that second order was meant for the young vet or for himself, Danny cursed inwardly as he quickened his pace. He begged with all his heart that he managed to reach his daughter before Michael got ahold of the gun, but Grace's piercing shriek shattered all his hopes in the blink of an eye.

"Danno, look out," Grace exclaimed wide-eyed, her voice shrill with panic and worry, making the blood in Danny's veins freeze.

He had only a split second to think about his next actions but he knew without a doubt that he would do everything to protect his little girl.

"Get down," Danny shouted as he dove headlong toward Grace, shielding her with his own body just when a second gunshot echoed through the basement.

**(tbc)**


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

The second shot was ringing loudly in Danny's ears and without hesitation he leaped into action.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion when he dashed forward and all he could think about was protecting the most precious thing in his life. Danny felt himself flying through the air, tackling Grace down to the ground with a move that would make every professional football player go green with envy.

Trying not to completely crush his little girl Danny turned his body a little bit to the left at the latest possible moment, not able to suppress a groan of pain when he hit the ground. Unable to break his fall with his hands cuffed behind his back, his left hip and shoulder connected with the cold stone floor, closely followed by his head. Pain exploded in his skull, his whole body was aching and he wished nothing more than to just close his eyes and give in to the darkness that stubbornly crept into his field of vision, but for Grace's sake he blinked back the stars that were dancing in front of his eyes and laboriously raised his head.

Throwing a glance down the corridor Danny breathed out a shaky sigh of relief when he noticed that Michael was no longer there, the footsteps and the angry yelling that constantly died down told him that the man was obviously following his sister. But nevertheless they still needed to get out of here before that maniac decided to come back.

"Danno, you're crushing me," Grace's thin voice was cutting through his musings and Danny rolled away from his daughter as fast as possible.

His heart was hammering wildly in his chest and all the pent-up tension suddenly fled his body, leaving him shaky and a bit light-headed. Taking a deep breath he squeezed his eyes shut, slightly shaking his head to clear his view. Immediately regretting the movement when the jackhammer in his brain increased its intensity, Danny struggled to his knees, using the nearby wall to support himself.

Cursing the damn handcuffs for the umpteenth time that day, Danny helplessly watched Grace standing up and wiping some tears from her eyes. "Gracie, are you alright?" he asked, frantically eyeballing his daughter from head to toe. "Are you hurt?"

A wave of relief surged through his body when he found her a bit shaken but otherwise unharmed and he sagged forward a little bit when he saw her shaking her head and heard her whispering, "No, I'm not hurt, Danno."

"That's good, Monkey, that's good," Danny whispered back, briefly closing his eyes when he allowed himself to relax a little bit, leaning heavily against the wall. Everything would be alright; that lunatic was gone, Grace was alright and all they had to do was get out of the basement and call for help.

His eyes snapped open when he felt a soft touch on his left shoulder and he stared right into Grace's worried face, only inches away from his own.

"Daddy?" she asks hesitantly, her face scrunched in thought and her voice wavering a little bit.

"What is it, Monkey?" Danny replied as he shifted his weight, trying to find a more comfortable position, not an easy task with his hands cuffed behind his back. He knew he had to stand up soon, leaving their current location before Michael could return, but he suddenly felt completely spent and another moment of rest certainly could not hurt, right?

"I called you twice," Grace said, a hint of reproach in her soft voice that reminded Danny vividly of her mother and he had to bite back the low chuckle that burned in his throat.

"Sorry Gracie," Danny answered, taking a deep breath as he prepared himself to finally stand up but his plans were cut short when the door next to them suddenly flew open with a loud bang.

Acting on pure instinct, Danny forgot about his own fatigue as he gathered all of his remaining strength, crawling in front of Grace to protect her from the new threat. Staring wide-eyed at the newcomer for a long moment, he finally breathed out a long shaky sigh, allowing himself to relax back against the wall.

"What the hell took you so long?"

"Hey, no swearing in front of your daughter," Steve replied playfully but he immediately turned serious when he took in Danny's and Grace's appearance. His eyes narrowed dangerously when his gaze fell on the blood stains on Danny's collar where Grace had earlier pressed her neck against her father in search of a little bit comfort and he furiously gritted his teeth when he noticed the wound on Grace's neck and the impressive lump that was already forming on Danny's left temple.

Briefly checking the corridor Steve hesitantly stowed his weapon away and opened his mouth but before he could say a single word another shot broke the silence, closely followed by some muffled shouting and yelling.

"Steve, you have to go after them," Danny said, weakly nodding his head toward the end of the corridor when he saw the uncertainty in his partner's eyes. It was clear that Steve was torn between the need to stay at Danny's and Grace's side and help them out of the basement and the need to fulfill his duty as a law enforcement officer. "Make sure that Stefanie is alright," Danny urged him to go, quickly telling him about Michael and explaining what had happened in a few words.

"Are you sure that you're alright?" Steve asked worriedly, only grudgingly agreeing to Danny's suggestion. He really didn't like Danny's appearance, the pallor of his skin and the beads of sweat on his forehead but apart from the lump on his temple he seemed to be alright. Grace was also a little bit paler than usual, snuggling tightly against her father's body as she quietly snuffled a few times.

"Please Uncle Steve, go and help Dr. Stefanie," she repeated Danny's words, looking up at Steve out of big brown eyes. "We are fine, right, Danno?" Grace added bravely, throwing her father an expectant look.

"Yes, monkey, we're fine," Danny answered with a proud little smile, bending forward to place a tender kiss to Grace's forehead before he looked back at his partner. "Go," he said forcefully, nodding sharply when he saw the hesitation in Steve's eyes. "But don't do anything stupid, that guy is really dangerous."

"Okay," McGarrett finally breathed out after another moment of contemplation, giving his friend and his adopted niece a reassuring smile. "I'll be right back."

"Hey Steve," Danny exclaimed just when his partner was about to turn around. "Just make sure you leave us the key for those damn handcuffs."

"Language, Danno," Steve and Grace replied with one voice, staring at each other for the blink of an eye before Grace started to giggle happily.

Quickly searching his pockets, Steve crouched down and handed Grace the key. "Take good care of him," he whispered, grinning brightly as he gave her a conspiratorial wink. His hand gently brushed over Grace's hair before he briefly squeezed Danny's shoulder. "I'll be right back," Steve repeated, drawing his weapon as he slowly stood up. With one last look back over his shoulder he turned around and disappeared through the door at the other end of the corridor.

* * *

"I knew that Uncle Steve would come and save us," Grace said confidently, turning her head to look down the corridor where Steve had disappeared only moments ago.

"Oh, you did?" Danny asked, raising his eyebrows when he saw the expression of utter admiration on her young face. He smiled gently when she answered his question with an enthusiastic nod, causing her brown hair to bob up and down. "And what did I do?" he added in a faked offended tone, cocking his head a little bit to the right as he waited for her answer. "Sit around and wait for Uncle Steve to save the day?" Danny still felt completely spent but Steve's appearance and the fact that Grace seemed to have survived the ordeal with only minor scrapes and bruises had definitely raised his spirits.

"No, Danno," Grace replied happily, throwing her arms around Danny's neck to hug him tightly. "You've been a real hero," she continued proudly, placing a gentle kiss on her father's cheek before she slowly stepped back.

The smile suddenly dropped from her face and she stared down at her hands, nervously fiddling with the set of keys Steve had given her. "I'm sorry," she whispered softly, not daring to raise her gaze.

Shaking his head in confusion, Danny looked at his daughter as he tried to decide if he had enough energy left to finally stand up. He was still on his knees, his body leaning at an awkward angle against the wall. The handcuffs were painfully cutting into the skin of his wrists and he longingly stared at the keys in Grace's hands. "What are you sorry for, Monkey?" He had no idea what she was talking about but it was clear that whatever it was, it was deeply affecting her.

"I disobeyed your orders," Grace said hesitantly, furrowing her brow when she pondered on the right words. "You said I should run but I didn't… I was waiting for you… I… I'm sorry," she stammered, starting to sob silently as her voice trailed off.

"Sssh, it's okay Gracie," Danny tried to comfort her, taking a deep breath to ease his pounding headache. He was suddenly a little bit dizzy so he briefly closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall. "I'm sure you had good reason, didn't you?"

"Yes," Grace whispered in a tearful voice, slowly nodding her head. She finally looked up and met her father's gaze before she said very quietly, "I was waiting for you, Danno. I knew you wouldn't be able to open the door with your hands bound behind your back, so I was waiting for you."

Staring open-mouthed at his daughter, Danny tried to process what he had just heard. His heart was bursting with love for his little girl and even if her move had been needlessly dangerous he was very proud of her actions. "Come here," he said, giving her a loving smile as he motioned her to step closer. "Come here and give me another hug."

"Thank you," Danny whispered into Grace's ear when she once more engulfed him in a tight hug. "But the next time you do what I ask, okay?" Waiting for her affirmative nod he enjoyed Grace's presence for another short moment before he loudly cleared his throat and asked tiredly, "So, why don't you take Uncle Steve's keys and finally open these handcuffs?"

Laboriously peeling his body away from the wall, Danny crawled a little bit forward to give Grace better access to the handcuffs. Closing his eyes he inhaled deeply in an attempt to fight the leaden numbness in his body; his left hip and shoulder pounded uncomfortably in synch with his head and his fingers were tingling so heavily that he almost couldn't feel them at all.

He heard his daughter fiddle with the keys behind his back but then the jingling sound suddenly stopped and Grace's tentative voice broke the silence.

"Daddy… you are bleeding…" she said slowly, drawing in a sharp breath that almost sounded like a sob. "There's really a lot of blood on your shirt…"

"What?" Danny asked in confusion, turning to the right as much as possible to see what she was talking about. That innocent little movement obviously triggered something because all of a sudden the numbness was gone and a wave of pain crushed down on him. The dizziness increased and dark dots began to dance in Danny's vision. His breath caught in his throat and it took all his willpower to bite back the pained moan that was building up in his chest. The last thing he wanted to do was to frighten his daughter even more than she probably already was.

He hadn't felt anything before but now an agonizing pain was exploding from his right flank up and down his spine until his whole back was on fire and every tiny movement hurt like hell. Squeezing his eyes shut, Danny leaned his body back against the wall and took a few deep breaths before he said hoarsely, "Just open the handcuffs, okay?"

"Okay, Danno," Grace replied softly, her voice trembling ever so slightly.

Once again Danny heard the jingling sound of the key set, his eyes still closed as he tried to fight off the pain to a more bearable level. He felt Grace twiddle with the handcuffs behind his back, drawing in a sharp breath when she accidentally twisted his right wrist, causing his arm to bounce against the gunshot wound in his back. Tightly pressing his lips together Danny tried with all his might to suppress a groan but this time it was to no avail; breathing heavily he faintly heard Grace's voice through the haze of pain.

"Daddy?" she asked and her distraught tone made Danny temporarily forget his own pain. His eyes snapped open and he weakly turned his head, staring directly into his daughter's tear-streaked face. "I'm sorry, Daddy, I… I didn't mean to hurt you but… I can't… the key… it's not fitting…" She slightly raised her hands in front of his face, presenting Steve's keys on her open palm. "It's not fitting," Grace repeated with a choked sob, her pale face contorted with worry and fear.

Danny squinted tiredly at the set of keys, his stomach almost turning when he noticed Grace's blood-stained hands. He felt his heart hammering in his chest and with every passing second it became more and more difficult to stay upright. "It's… it's okay, Gracie," Danny whispered hoarsely, weakly nodding his head at his daughter. They locked eyes for a moment and Danny tried to give his little girl a reassuring smile. "Need to lie down…" he murmured only a heartbeat later, slowly sliding down the wall until he was resting on the cold floor. It was a rather uncomfortable position with his hands still bound behind his back, but at least the dizziness seemed to retreat a tiny bit only to return full force when he felt a tight pressure against his lower back.

"What are you doing?" Danny groaned, weakly turning his head toward his daughter. The blood was rushing loudly in his ears and he had to blink back the gray veil that was clouding his vision.

"I'm trying to stop the bleeding," Grace answered self-consciously, snuffling a few times while she obviously searched for the right words. "Madeline showed us what to do but I think it's not working…" Her voice trailed off and she started to sob silently, hanging her head in utter desperation.

Furrowing his brow in confusion, Danny needed a long moment until he caught what Grace was talking about, finally remembering the feisty troop leader of the Aloha girls. "Everything's gonna be alright…" he said sluggishly, desperately clinging to the fragile threads of consciousness. "You're doing great, monkey… you're doing great…"

Danny's eyelids drooped against his will and he knew he hadn't much time left before he would finally lose his fight. Licking his dry lips he took a deep breath and opened his eyes a last time to look at his daughter. "Uncle Steve… will be back soon… he knows what to do…" he whispered, hating himself for leaving his daughter alone in such a terrible and frightening situation.

"Danno loves you," was the last thing on his mind before darkness engulfed him, but Danny wasn't sure if had said it out loud or just thought it.

**(tbc)**

* * *

Okay, this is where it all started... I hope you're still enjyoing the story?!


	8. Chapter 7

Thanks a lot for all your nice reviews, for all the alerts and favorites :-) I'm glad you're still enjoying the story.

* * *

**Chapter 7:**

His weapon at the ready, Steve tiptoed across the barely lit corridor, carefully drawing closer to the arguing voices that sounded muffled from the top of a narrow staircase. Remembering the little information that his partner had rattled off earlier, he tried to concentrate on the task at hand, but his thoughts kept travelling back to Danny and his daughter. Thinking about the bloody cut on Grace's neck still made his blood boil but apart from that apparently minor injury the young girl seemed to be surprisingly relaxed after all she had experienced.

Danny on the other hand had looked like he had gone to hell and back and Steve could only assume how he must have felt, watching the most precious thing in his life, his little girl, his monkey get harmed. No wonder he had been pale as death, sweating and visibly shaky. But underneath all the worry on Danny's face, Steve thought he had seen something else, like a ghost of barely hidden pain and he couldn't help wondering if the big lump on Danny's left temple was maybe not his only injury.

But before McGarrett could dwell deeper on that thought, the voices in front of him grew louder and angrier with every passing second, suddenly demanding his complete concentration. Making sure that he stayed hidden in the shadows, Steve sneaked to the bottom of the staircase and tried to get a glimpse of what was happening upstairs.

Carefully leaning forward a little bit, Steve frowned angrily when he noticed that the structure of the staircase made it impossible to look right to the top; after about ten or twelve steps, the staircase ended in a small landing before it made a U-turn and proceeded in the opposite direction.

The dim sunlight of the early evening was bathing the steps in a warm orange and Steve could hear faint traffic noise, telling him that the staircase probably lead to a small side street or another backyard. Narrowing his eyes, Steve cocked his head a little bit to the right, trying to make sense of the different voices from above. Even if he wasn't able to make out actual words, he could easily identify a female voice, probably Stefanie's, the young vet Danny had told him about. He listened closely for another moment and the frown on Steve's forehead deepened; he was pretty sure that he had heard not only one male voice but also a second one but then the voices suddenly died down, only to resound full force a heartbeat later.

Steve readied his weapon as he started to slowly walk up the staircase, preparing himself to intervene at any moment. He could hear shouting and screaming from above, a loud slap, a surprised outcry and then the unmistakable sound of a body falling down the stairs.

Toppling down head over heels, Stefanie moaned in pain when she finally came to a rest on the narrow landing, blood trickling down from her nose and from a cut above her right eyebrow, leaving crimson stains on her white coat. Her right arm was clearly broken right above the wrist and every single one of her laborious breaths ended in another pained moan.

Blinking sluggishly, Stefanie weakly moved her head, her eyes widening in surprise when her gaze fell on Steve who quickly put his outstretched index finger in front of his lips to keep her silent. He quickly showed her his badge, giving her a reassuring smile when he saw her weak nod of acknowledgement.

The faint sound of a car door slamming shut caused Steve to jump into action and he quickly sneaked upstairs, pausing briefly at the landing to crouch down next to the injured woman. "Don't move," he whispered, gently squeezing Stefanie's shoulder to provide some comfort. The young vet was barely conscious by the time he reached her, her pupils dilated and clearly of different size when she tried to look up at Steve.

"Help is on the way," McGarrett said softly, gritting his teeth about the lie when Stefanie's eyes slowly fluttered closed and her head lolled to the left. Steve could now see the thin rivulet of blood that trickled from her right ear and once more he silently cursed the fact that he had left his cell phone back in the car and that he hadn't taken the time to call for back-up.

"Hey, Stefanie, can you hear me?" he asked in a low whisper, one eye focused on the top of the staircase as he gently shook the woman's shoulder. "Stefanie, stay awake." But the young vet didn't respond so all Steve could do was gently put her in a stable side position and make sure that she was breathing properly, before he silently hurried up the stairs. He knew that bleeding from the ear might be a sign for a severe head injury and if that was the case, Stefanie needed medical help as fast as possible.

Having reached the top of the staircase, Steve stopped for a moment next to the open door, peeking outside to see what was going on. The bright orange light of the setting sun blinded him for a moment and he briefly squinted his eyes, taking a small step to the left to retreat back into the shadows but that tiny movement caught the attention of the lean, dark-haired man who was just about to get into the black van that was waiting in front of the door.

Noticing the red painted rims and the red stripe along the side of the car, Steve furrowed his brow, trying to find out why the van looked so familiar but he had no time to think about an answer because Michael didn't hesitate for a moment, yanking up his gun – or rather Danny's gun, Steve registered grimly – and pointing it directly at Steve's head.

"Five-0, drop your weapon," McGarrett immediately replied to the unspoken threat, raising his own weapon as he took a step forward and coldly eyeballed the man in front of him. He sighed inwardly as he quickly adjusted to the new situation; he had hoped for a little more preparation time to come up with a plan how to approach the young man who had taken Danny and Grace hostage but now it seemed that he just had to improvise.

Michael held Steve's gaze for the length of a heartbeat before a devious grin crept across his face and his eyes flickered to the left. That barely noticeable movement was the only warning Steve would get but as a SEAL he had learned to always follow his instincts without hesitation.

Two shots rang through the air as Steve and Michael fired their weapons at the exact same time.

* * *

"Danno loves you."

The soft, breathless whisper was the last thing Grace heard from her father before Danny went limp in her arms.

Looking down at the still form, Grace felt her heart literally stop for a beat before it restarted, bumping loudly and fast in her chest. Hot tears were burning in her eyes as she frantically shook her head over and over again. "Daddy?" Grace asked timidly, crouching down next to his head and placing her small hands on Danny's shoulder. "Daddy, please wake up," she begged pitifully, contorting her face in worry and fear when she saw the bloody hand prints she was leaving on Danny's light blue shirt. "Daddy, please…" the girl whimpered one more time when she gave him a gentle shake but Danny still didn't move. Tears were streaming down Grace's face and her voice was nothing more than a faint whisper.

Hanging her head she rocked back on her heels and sat down next to her father, leaning her back against the cold wall and hugging her knees. Grace sobbed quietly for a while until finally a slight jolt ran through her body and she tentatively reached into the pocket of her jeans. Almost laughing out loud in joy and relief she pulled out her pink cell phone and looked at in in triumph; the bad man might have crushed Danno's phone but he hadn't bother to search her pockets too.

"I'll call for help," she whispered while she pressed her thumb onto the display and quickly scrolled through her contact list, taking a deep breath and angrily wiping the tears from her face with her other hand. "Don't worry, Danno."

But all her hopes were shattered in the blink of an eye when she noticed that there was absolutely no reception in the depth of the basement, making it impossible to call for help. Feeling the tears of hopelessness creep back into her eyes, Grace took another deep breath and forcefully shook her head; she would not just sit there, crying like a baby when her Danno needed her help. No, she would do what she had been taught to do; she knew how to act when someone was injured. Nervously sucking her lower lip she tried to think about everything she had learned from Madeleine during the lessons with the Aloha girls and the very first and most simple thing was calling for help.

Letting her gaze travel across the empty corridor, Grace tightly clutched her cell phone as she slowly stood up. She knew that Uncle Steve had gone after the bad guy, trying to save Dr. Stefanie. He had said he would be right back but so far there was no sign of him; Grace didn't know how much time had passed since he was gone but to her it felt like an eternity.

Looking down at her father she saw that his chest was rising and falling regularly so she knew he was not dead but she also knew that he needed help as fast as possible and that there was not time to wait for Steve's return.

Coming to a decision the girl snuffled defiantly as she squared her shoulders, almost scared by her own sudden bravery. She didn't need her uncle or anyone else; she knew what she had to do to save her father.

"I'll be right back," Grace whispered before she pushed open the heavy gray door that lead to the staircase and raced up the stairs, her eyes glued to the small screen of her cell phone. She had almost reached the first landing when she was finally greeted with a two hesitant reception bars and she stopped dead in her tracks, hitting the call button with trembling fingers.

Nervously plucking at the seam of her light pink t-shirt Grace impatiently waited for the call to connect. Her breath was coming in short, fast gaps and her heart was still beating painfully in her chest.

"Gracie, sweetheart, what can I do for you?"

The girl almost dropped the cell phone when Chin's dark, calm voice suddenly greeted her and she desperately bit back a sob of relief.

"Uncle Chin… I… I need help… Danno is… is bleeding and Uncle Steve… he's gone… he said he would be right back but he isn't and Danno… Danno is sleeping and I can't wake him… and there was no reception, so I had to leave him…" Grace stammered in exasperation, wiping some new tears from her cheeks as she sat down onto one of the steps. "Please, I need help…"

"Grace, calm down, okay," Chin answered, trying his best to fight back the worry and confusion as he soothed Danny's daughter over the phone. "What happened? Where are you? Are you okay?"

"I… I don't know," Grace sobbed bitterly; her hands were shaking so hard that she was barely able to hold the phone. "There was this bad guy… I think he was Dr. Stefanie's brother… he grabbed me and… he had a knife… and then he took Danno's gun… Uncle Steve went after him but he never came back and I think… I think he hurt Danno…"

"Okay, Grace, listen," Chin interrupted her and she could hear the rapid typing of fingers on a keyboard in the background. "Stay on the phone, okay? I'll trace your location and then I'll come and find you. Everything will be okay, just stay on the phone."

"I can't…" Grace replied in a distraught whisper, frantically shaking her head as she struggled back to her feet. "I need to go back to Danno… he's bleeding… I need to help him…"

"No, Grace, don't go," Chin reason with her, trying to convince her to stay where she was. "Stay on the phone. Grace, do you hear me? Stay on the phone."

"I have to help Danno," Grace repeated, hesitantly placing her cell phone onto one of the cold steps. "I'm sorry," she whispered before she stiffly climbed down the stairs. She had no time to stay on the phone but she hadn't disconnected the call, hoping with all her heart that her Uncle Chin would be able to find her anyway.

Stumbling through the heavy door back into the basement Grace briefly checked on her father, noticing worriedly that he was still not responding to her pleas and that the wound at Danny's lower back was still bleeding sluggishly.

During her short conversation with Chin, Grace had finally remembered a few other basics that she had learned from the Aloha girls and she was now looking around for something she could use to stop the bleeding. During their lessons they had always worked with a well-equipped first aid box but she earnestly doubted that she would find one down here in the cellar.

Slowly walking down the corridor, she peeked into the first room, wrinkling her nose in disgust when the bad smell from before hit her full force but nevertheless she hesitantly stepped into the small laundry room. There were two washing machines, one of them still spinning with a deep buzzing noise and quite a few shelves on the walls, crammed with towels in all imaginable colors.

Raising herself on tiptoes, Grace swiftly grabbed an armful of towels that looked freshly laundered, smiling slightly when the smell of washing powder reached her nostrils. Whirling around she rushed back to her father's side, placing one towel beneath his head to make him a little bit more comfortable before she swallowed nervously and tentatively pressed another one against the wound in his back.

"Daddy?" Grace asked, her voice full of hope when Danny responded to the touch with a soft groan and an almost unnoticeable movement of his body. "Daddy, can you hear me? Please wake up…"

But there was no other reaction and now that she had done everything she could think of, Grace was feeling lonely and scared like never before in her entire life. Closing her eyes for a short moment, she chewed on her lower lip, wincing in fear when she heard the dull sound of footsteps and then suddenly the door at the other end of the corridor flew open with a loud bang.

**(tbc)**

* * *

Unfortunately I will be very busy during the next few days so I probably won't be able to update before Sunday or even Monday... please be patient!


	9. Chapter 8

Thanks a lot for all your great reviews! (And sorry for the double cliffhanger...) As I said, I was terribly busy the last few days so I didn't find the time to answer your comments. To make up for that, here's a new chapter for you:

* * *

**Chapter 8:**

Steve literally felt the bullet whizzing past his left ear as he whirled around and jumped to the side, barreling into the second man who was approaching him from the right, just as he had assumed after having seen Michael's eyes flicker.

The surprise of the attack made the young Hawaiian stumble backwards but Steve didn't waste any time, placing a well-aimed punch to the other man's chin; rendering his opponent unconscious before his body even hit the ground.

Quickly shifting his attention back to Michael, Steve tried to find cover behind the black van in case the other man fired again. He hadn't waited to see if his bullet had reached its goal but Steve was sure he had heard a grunt of pain and when he looked up he saw Michael's face contorted with pain as the dark-haired man clutched a bleeding wound on his right shoulder, Danny's weapon just slipping uselessly from his uncooperative fingers.

Steve decided instinctively that Michael was no longer a threat at the moment, his attention caught by the back door of the van that was torn open with a loud bang and three other young men encircled the Ex-SEAL.

The largest of them, a huge black guy with the build and attitude of a football player was unarmed, but he looked down at Steve with self-confident arrogance that almost made him smile. McGarrett had met quite a few guys like the one in front of him and he knew that, with a little bit of tactic, it was just a matter of seconds until he would be able to overwhelm the larger man – and not to forget that he still had his weapon at the ready.

But he had reckoned without the other two men, one of them was armed with a large butcher's knife and the other one was wielding a black crowbar. Calculating the situation in the blink of an eye, Steve knew that he had to act fast, taking down at least one of them by surprise, or otherwise he would be in real trouble. Luckily Michael was still clutching the wound in his shoulder as he weakly leaned against the black van, looking as if he was ready to collapse at any moment. The second guy that Steve had knocked down earlier was just starting to move faintly but at the moment he was still out of the game.

"Five-0," Steve repeated sternly, taking a small step back to get into a better fight position. "Drop your…"

But his orders were interrupted by the large crowbar that was crashing down towards his outstretched right arm. Steve saw the movement from the corner of his eyes and he reacted on pure instinct, barely having enough time to yank back his hand. It was just enough that the crowbar didn't crush his right wrist but hit his weapon full-force and the sound of metal against metal echoed loudly through the air.

The gun dropped to the ground and Steve stumbled backwards from the force of the attack but he quickly regained his balance and without further hesitation lunged at the young man who was holding the knife. He was the smallest of his three opponents, almost a boy, and Steve estimated that he probably was not older than seventeen or eighteen. It took not more than a fast maneuver, a rough twist of the boy's wrist and the knife clattered to the floor; whirling around Steve rammed his elbow into the boy's gut, closely followed by a punch to the face when the boy doubled over in pain.

Feeling almost sorry Steve watched in grim satisfaction how his young opponent collapsed to the ground, blood running freely from his broken nose. Crawling backwards as fast as possible, the boy coughed and whimpered in pain and fear as he stared wide-eyed up at Steve and frantically shook his head.

The whole action had lasted maybe ten, fifteen seconds and Steve threw the boy a last, stern look to keep him down on the floor before he turned his attention to the remaining two men. He barely had time to duck to the left when the crowbar came down a second time, this time aimed for a blow to his head.

His fast reflexes probably saved his life but nevertheless the crowbar found its goal, landing forcefully on Steve's left shoulder. Groaning loudly when an agonizing pain travelled down his arm, he wasn't able to prevent his knees giving way and he almost dropped to the ground.

Struggling back to his feet, McGarrett tried to foresee the next attack but this time he wasn't fast enough and the crowbar hit him at the back of his knees, closely followed by a blow to his lower back just as he crashed to the ground. His whole world exploded in pain and all he perceived was his own harsh breathing as he fought to stay conscious.

Steve knew that he had to defend himself or otherwise the next blow would probably the very last thing he ever felt in his life; so he gathered all his remaining strength and tried to get up but his left arm wouldn't cooperate at all and every movement sent a wave of fiery pain through his whole body. Black dots were dancing in front of his eyes and he gritted his teeth not to cry out in pain. All he could muster was turning his aching body around and kicking his legs in hopes of hitting one of his attackers.

Breathing heavily Steve expected the next blow at any moment, more than surprised when it never came. He faintly heard the approaching sound of a siren, barely audible over the blood rushing in his ears, and then a hoarse voice shouting some clipped commands.

"Leave him. Get in the car. Let's go."

Laboriously struggling to his knees, Steve squinted at his surroundings, barely managing to roll out of the way when the black van left the scene with squealing tires. Staring blankly after the disappearing car, he needed a long moment until he realized that the fight was over and he was truly alone. With a relieved groan he collapsed back to the ground, closing his eyes as he took a few deep breaths to fight off the pain.

The sound of the siren grew louder and louder and just when Steve had finally gathered enough strength to struggle to his feet, an ambulance rounded the corner and stopped directly in front of him. Heavily leaning against the nearest wall, McGarrett gritted his teeth as he tried to move his left arm but even the tiniest movement of his fingers was rewarded with a red-hot wave of pain, so he just decided to let the arm hang limply by his side.

Furrowing his brow as he looked at the two paramedics who had just jumped out of the ambulance, Steve tried to process what was going on.

"Sir, do you need help?" one of the paramedics asked, closely eyeballing Steve's appearance as he motioned his partner to bring a gurney. "Are you injured?"

"I'm good," Steve shook his head, quickly pointing toward the open door when he finally remembered the young vet. "But there's a woman, she fell down the stairs, her name is Stefanie," he explained curtly, watching exhaustedly how the paramedics threw him a long scrutinizing look before they hurried down the staircase.

Steve took another deep breath as he leaned his head back against the wall and tiredly looked around. He had no idea what just had happened or who those guys had been but at least they had left enough evidence to possibly identify them; there were not only two pools of blood on the street but Steve's attackers had also left behind the large knife as well as the crowbar.

Raising his right hand Steve slowly searched his pockets until he remembered that his cell phone was still on the passenger's seat of the Camaro where he had tossed it earlier after his conversations with Max and Charlie. Cursing under his breath he pushed himself off the wall, turning his head in surprise when the familiar sound of a motorcycle filled the air.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you," McGarrett said when he watched Chin dismount his vehicle. "But what are you doing here?"

"What happened? Are you okay?" Chin replied with a worried nod towards Steve's arm, completely ignoring Steve's question for the moment. He slightly raised his eyebrows when Steve waved him off with a shake of his head and a muttered, "I'm fine."

"Where are Danny and Grace?" Chin asked but before Steve could give an answer, one of the paramedics rushed up the stairs and interrupted their conversation.

"Excuse me, but we need some help," he said urgently, pointing towards the gurney in front of the door. "The staircase is not wide enough and we need help to carry her up the steps." The paramedic motioned them to follow him while he explained curtly, "We need one of you to stabilize her head."

"Stabilize her head?" Chin repeated wide-eyed, his gaze darting from Steve to the paramedic and back. "What happened? Is Grace alright?"

"Grace?" Steve replied blankly, clearly confused about Chin's question. "Oh," he said after a moment of contemplation, rapidly shaking his head. "Grace is alright, he's talking about Stefanie," he explained while he slowly followed the paramedic to the staircase. Grimacing in pain, he clutched his left arm and pressed it against his torso. "The vet," he added not very helpfully, sighing wearily when he saw the confusion on Chin's face. "I'll tell you later, it's a long story." Briefly stopping in his tracks Steve turned around and nodded back toward the street. "Oh, and could you please call CSI? I don't have my phone and there is quite some evidence to gather."

"Evidence? What evidence?" Chin repeated, narrowing his eyes when he looked around and noticed the pools of blood and the scattered weapons. "Steve, I have no idea what you're talking about or what happened here, and now is not the time to shed light upon the whole matter," he said slowly, placing his hand on Steve's uninjured shoulder to grab the other man's attention. "Where are Danny and Grace?" he asked gravely when he was sure that he had Steve's full concentration.

"They are downstairs in the basement," Steve answered, feeling a cold shiver running down his spine when he saw the expression on Chin's face. "Chin, what's wrong?"

"Please, could you hurry up?" the paramedic interrupted them again, impatiently waving his hands. "We really need to get her to the hospital."

"We're coming," Steve answered curtly with a sharp nod of his head before he looked back at his teammate. "Chin, why are you here? What's wrong?" he asked hesitantly, finally realizing that he was obviously missing something vital.

"Grace called me," Chin explained quickly, locking eyes with his boss. "She was crying so bitterly I was barely able to understand her; I think she said Danny was shot and that she couldn't wake him but she couldn't tell me where you were, so I had to track her phone. As soon as I got a hit I called an ambulance…" His voice trailed off and he forcefully squeezed Steve's right shoulder. "Steve, where are they?"

"What? No…" Steve stammered; furrowing his brow as he frantically shook his head in denial. "No, Danny was fine when I left them… He was… Damn!" he exclaimed, whirling around as fast as his aching body allowed.

"Help them," he hoarsely instructed Chin, pointing at the two paramedics down at the small landing. "And call another ambulance," Steve shouted over his shoulder but when he looked back he already saw Chin pulling his cell phone out of his pocket.

"Go, I have this," Chin answered with an affirmative nod towards his boss. "Look after Danny." Hoping with all his heart that their teammate was alright, Chin pressed the phone to his ear and impatiently waited for the call to connect as he worriedly watched McGarrett limp down the stairs to get to his partner's side.

**(tbc)**

* * *

Back to Danny and Grace in the next chapter :-)


	10. Chapter 9

I'm really sorry if my timeline was a little bit confusing, I jumped a bit back and forth in the last two chapters. But as you can see right now the loud bang was indeed Steve opening the door to get to Danny and Grace...

* * *

**Chapter 9:**

"Danny? Grace?" Steve shouted worriedly as he raced through the basement and pushed open the door to the corridor where he had left his partner and his daughter. He gritted his teeth when every single step sent a wave of pain through his whole body, his back and his shoulder where the crowbar had hit him burning like they were on fire. His left arm was still pretty much useless but Steve forgot all his pain in the blink of an eye when he took in Danny's still form and the little girl kneeling by his side. He had absolutely no idea how he could have missed Danny's condition earlier and a huge wave of guilt surged through his mind.

Grace's head jolted up when she heard the door crashing open, shrinking back a little bit but the expression of grief and fear soon turned into hesitant relief when she recognized her adopted uncle.

"Grace, are you alright?" Steve asked, quickly eyeballing her from head to toe as he crouched down next to her.

"Uncle Steve…" she sobbed silently, tears leaking from her eyes when she looked up and met Steve's gaze. "You have to help Danno…" Her voice trailed off and she stared pleadingly at the dark-haired man, her small hands still desperately pressing the towel against Danny's lower back.

"Ssssh, it's alright Gracie," Steve tried to soothe her while he quickly bent forward and checked Danny's pulse. He breathed out a deep sigh of relief when he found it beating strongly and steadily under his fingertips. "Danny? Can you hear me?" he asked, gently squeezing his partner's shoulder but he quickly abandoned his attempt to wake the other man when he heard Grace's worried moan.

"It's okay, Gracie, you've done good," McGarrett said, turning his attention back to Danny's daughter. His worry for his partner and his own bodily pain made it difficult to deal with the distraught girl but Danny would never forgive him if he didn't try to comfort her so he gave her a reassuring smile and awkwardly stroked her hair.

Looking down on her trembling hands and the bloody towel, Steve steeled himself for the imminent pain and slowly raised his left arm a little bit to put it around Grace's shoulders. "It's okay, you can let go," he said quietly, placing his right hand onto the towel and onto her smaller hands while he gently pressed her small body against his chest. "Grace, let me have a look. I'll take care of Danno, you can let go now."

For a short moment nothing happened but then Grace tentatively let go of the towel and with a stifling sob she turned around and buried her face into Steve's dark blue jeans shirt, starting to weep uncontrollably when the burden was suddenly lifted from her shoulders.

"Ssssh, it's okay," Steve murmured over and over again into Grace's ear, holding her tightly to provide as much comfort as possible. He slowly removed the towel to look at the gunshot wound, the breath caught in his throat at the sight of the amount of blood that had soaked Danny's shirt. But after a second, closer look Steve hissed out the air in a long weary sigh when he saw that the wound was only bleeding sluggishly.

Putting away the blood-soaked towel he took a fresh one from the small stack next to Danny's head and pressed it against the wound, noticing for the first time that Danny's hands where still cuffed behind his back.

"Gracie," Steve said gently to Danny's daughter who was still tightly clinging to his body, silently sobbing against his shirt. "Gracie, where are the keys I gave you earlier?"

Feeling Grace shrugging her shoulders and shaking her head while she mumbled some unintelligible words against his chest Steve looked around and finally found the set of keys half buried underneath Danny's body. Awkwardly leaning forward he grabbed the keys and started to fumble with the handcuffs, not an easy task with the sobbing child in his arms and only one good arm. Every time Grace moved or shifted her weight, a jolt of pain darted through his arm and shoulder and it took all of Steve's willpower not to cry out in pain.

The first few times the key stubbornly refused to slip into the lock or just wouldn't turn around but then after a great amount of silent cursing the handcuffs finally flipped open and clattered to the cold stone floor. Bending forward Steve tried to shift Danny's weight to move him into a more comfortable position, finally eliciting a reaction from the unconscious man. Groaning softly, Danny started to move weakly, his fingers twitching and his brow furrowing in pain and stress.

"Danny?" Steve asked nervously, placing his right hand on Danny's shoulder. "Danny? Can you hear me? Come on, wake up, buddy."

Danny's eyelids fluttered slightly and he groaned again, his breathing rate increased when he ran his tongue across his dry lips and swallowed laboriously.

"Danny, can you hear me?" Steve repeated, gently squeezing Danny's shoulder to help his friend regain consciousness. "Danny? Open your eyes, okay? You have to wake up, you're scaring Gracie…"

Hearing his daughter's name seemed to be the crucial trigger that brought Danny back to full awareness and with another pained groan he slowly blinked his eyes open. Squinting against the dim cold light of the corridor he sluggishly looked around until his gaze fell on the worried face of his partner. "Steve?" Danny croaked out, once again wetting his dry lips. "What happened?" he asked hoarsely while he blinked rapidly, obviously having trouble focusing his sight.

But before Steve was able to give an answer, Danny's memories came back with a vengeance and with a startled gasp he struggled to sit up. "Grace? Where is Grace?" he exhaled agitatedly, contorting his face in pain when the sudden movement sent a wave of pain through his back and his pounding skull.

"Hey, easy, calm down Danny," Steve replied, intensifying the pressure against Danny's shoulder as he tried to keep him down. "Everything's alright, Grace is here, she's alright. Grace is alright, okay?"

Raising a trembling hand towards his head, Danny exhaustedly rubbed his face, squinting at his daughter in Steve's arms. The girl still had her face buried against Steve's chest, seemingly oblivious to the recent events around her. "Grace?" he asked weakly, clearing his throat before he tried it again a little more forcefully. "Grace? Monkey, are you alright?"

Finally turning her head when she heard her nickname, Grace snuffled noisily, wiping the tears from her eyes before she wiggled out of Steve's embrace and hesitantly approached her father. "Danno?" she whispered anxiously, her gaze darting from Danny's face to his blood-soaked shirt and back to his face. She was nervously wringing her hands, obviously unsure of where she was allowed to touch him.

Noticing her predicament, Danny stretched out a trembling hand, curled his fingers around her smaller ones and squeezed gently but before he could say another word the elevator door next to his feet opened with a soft hiss and Steve, Danny and Grace winced simultaneously. Steve instinctively reached for his weapon but he realized quickly that he had lost it earlier during the short but heavy fight up on the street.

"Chin," he heard Danny breathe out in relief, relaxing visibly when he finally recognized his teammate who was just stepping out of the elevator, closely followed by a small crowd of paramedics.

"Hey brah, you alright?" Chin asked, worriedly looking down at Danny while he helped Steve to get up, making room for two of the paramedics who knelt down by Danny's side and immediately started to assess his condition.

Nodding weakly, Danny held Chin's gaze for a moment before he turned his attention toward his daughter. "Go with Uncle Steve," he whispered, reluctantly letting go of Grace's hands after a last gentle squeeze. Danny weakly pushed his daughter toward the other two members of Five-0, briefly communicating with Steve in utter silence before he lowered his head to the cold floor and tiredly surrendered to the medical treatment. He knew that Steve would understand his silent pleading, trusting his partner to take good care of his little girl.

"I figured it would be better to come this way," Chin explained quietly, responding to the confused expression of Steve's face as he briefly pointed over his shoulder toward the other two paramedics who were just about to push a gurney out of the elevator. He raised his eyebrows at Steve's pained moan when the taller man bent down to lift up Grace and carry her in his arms. The girl threw a last brief glance at her father before she silently started to sob again and buried her face in the crook of Steve's neck.

"Whoa, are you alright?" Chin asked cautiously while he grabbed Steve's arm and helped him keep his balance when he watched him stagger slightly. He had already noticed earlier the barely hidden signs of pain and now he was positive that Steve had actually suffered some kind of injury himself. Sighing inwardly when he saw Steve gritting his teeth and the hint of defiance on his face, Chin congratulated himself on the fabulous idea not to call just one but two additional ambulances; now all he needed was a good plan to convince Steve to take a ride in said second ambulance, a task that was probably easier said than done.

"How is she doing?" the Asian man whispered quietly, locking eyes with Steve as he nodded toward the blood on Grace's hands and neck. "Is she hurt?" Chin had quickly decided that it would be best to ignore Steve's injuries for the moment, knowing that the other man would refuse stubbornly to look after himself until he had made sure that Danny and Grace were taken care of.

"I think most of it is Danny's blood," Steve answered, keeping his voice as low as possible to not frighten Grace any further. "But she has a cut on her neck that probably needs some treatment." His gaze flickered toward Danny who was just transferred onto the gurney and propped to his left side to keep pressure from the wound in his back; an oxygen mask was covering his face and an IV line snaked its way into the back of his right hand. Danny blinked tiredly, he obviously had trouble keeping his eyes open, and after a last glance at Chin, Steve and Grace, he smiled slightly under the mask. He weakly waved his hand before he finally allowed himself to relax and his eyelids slipped closed.

"Okay Steve, there is a second ambulance waiting outside," Chin said softly while they followed the paramedics into the large goods elevator that easily accommodated the crowd of people as well as the gurney Danny was lying on. He watched Steve slightly shaking his head, quickly continuing his explanations before Steve could utter his objections. "Why don't you get Grace looked at, ride with her to the hospital while I stay with Danny." Chin looked down at Steve's left hand that slightly rested on Danny's upper arm; he knew that Steve wanted nothing more than to stay at Danny's side but right now his top priority had to be his partner's daughter.

Steve kept silent until they had reached the first floor, slowly limping after the gurney, Chin's hand around his elbow to provide some much needed support. By the time they had reached the waiting ambulances Grace was fast asleep, her head bobbing against Steve's shoulder with every step he took. She was lying limply and heavily in his arms, his muscles trembling from the exertion but whenever Steve tried to shift her weight she whimpered silently, clinging tighter to his body.

"Alright," McGarrett finally huffed out hoarsely, belatedly responding to Chin's suggestion. He laboriously climbed into the second ambulance after a long, worried gaze at his partner, trying to fight back a long pained moan when he heavily dropped down onto the gurney.

"I'll meet you at the hospital," Chin said loudly but when he looked up at Steve he noticed that the Ex-SEAL had closed his eyes as he cradled Grace on his lap, his cheek resting on top of the girl's brown hair. Steve's complexion was pale, beads of sweat were covering his forehead and he looked ready to collapse at any moment, probably only keeping upright by sheer willpower and obstinacy.

Briefly holding back one of the paramedics, Chin nodded toward his boss. "Look after him, I think he's injured too," he whispered before he quickly jumped into the other ambulance, staying at Danny's side until they had reached the hospital barely five minutes later. He had absolutely no idea what had actually happened but he had called CSI just as Steve had instructed earlier and now he was eager to hear the whole story – after making sure that his teammates and Grace were alright of course. Sighing silently he slightly shook his head as he smiled ruefully; this was definitely not how he had pictured his birthday but with Steve and Danny, it was at least never boring.

**(tbc)**


	11. Chapter 10

Thank you so much for all your wonderful reviews :-) You're the best!

* * *

**Chapter 10:**

Danny vaguely remembered pain and fear and confusion but except for the slight pounding behind his left eye he was now feeling numb and warm and safe, like being wrapped in a tight, dark, heavy cocoon.

It actually felt pretty comfortable and he pondered for a moment if it was worth the struggle to open his eyes but there was something nagging at the back of his mind that slowly but strongly pulled him toward consciousness. Danny had trouble keeping his dazed thoughts together but he somehow knew that the slight feeling of worry had something to do with his daughter and so he gathered all of his meager strength, took a deep breath and slowly blinked his eyes open.

The first thing he noticed was that he was lying in a small hospital room, propped to his left side with a small mountain of pillows behind his back to prevent him from rolling to his back. The slight scratching under his nose told him that a nasal cannula provided him with a faint stream of cold oxygen and he was pretty certain that there was at least one IV line attached to his body but at the moment he was too tired to confirm this suspicion.

Squinting his eyes when the early morning sunlight increased the dull throbbing inside his skull, Danny let his gaze lazily travel across room until he caught sight of his partner; Steve was sitting on the edge of the second bed, staring out the window while he absently stroked Grace's hair. The girl seemed to be sleeping peacefully, totally oblivious to the gentle touch as well as to the fact that her Danno had finally woken up.

"Hey," Danny said hoarsely, weakly clearing his throat when he heard the sound of his raspy voice. He almost smiled at the surprised wince of his friend because it was usually almost impossible to catch Steve off guard.

"Hey," Steve replied quietly but with unmistakable joy in his voice. He quickly made sure that Grace hadn't woken up before he cautiously stood up and approached Danny's bed. "It's good to see you. How are you feeling?"

"Okay, I think," Danny whispered, slightly shrugging his shoulders as he licked his dry lips; taking another deep breath he fought against the leaden tiredness and the increasing headache that threatened to pull him back to sleep. "What happened?" he asked, his eyes crinkling tenderly when he pensively looked at his sleeping daughter.

But then, only a split second later, Danny's eyes narrowed dangerously when he noticed the big, bright white patch on Grace's neck and suddenly he remembered everything that had happened. "How is she?" he asked with a strangled sound that almost sounded like a sob, grimacing in pain when he struggled to sit up.

"Hey, slowly, Danny," Steve said, placing his right hand on Danny's shoulder to prevent him from getting up. "Gracie is fine." It was easy to keep the injured man down and after a short fight all strength fled Danny's body and he weakly sank back into the pillows.

"Steve, please," Danny whispered breathlessly, frantically curling his fingers around Steve's wrist as he locked eyes with his partner. "Tell me the truth. Is she alright? Why is she in a hospital bed?"

Squeezing his friend's shoulder, Steve made sure that he had Danny's full attention before he replied solemnly, "Grace is alright. She's alright, Danny, I'd never lie to you." Nodding once when he saw Danny slightly relax, he pointed to the second bed. "She's alright, see? She's exhausted and understandably a bit scared but physically she's alright. The cut on her neck was not deep, she didn't even need stitches and the doctor is positive that it won't leave a scar. And she's still here because she refused unwaveringly to leave your side, Danny." Once more squeezing Danny's shoulder, Steve looked at the sleeping girl and said proudly, "She's a great little girl."

"Of course she is," Danny huffed out tiredly, smiling lovingly at his daughter before he looked up at Steve and smirked wryly. "After all she's my daughter."

"That she is, Danno," Steve laughed out, slightly shaking his head as he took a small step back and slumped into a white plastic chair next to Danny's bed.

"What the hell happened to your arm?" Danny asked hoarsely, shifting his weight a little bit so that he could get a better look at his partner. He raised his eyebrows in confusion and curiosity when he noticed for the first time that Steve was wearing a sling on his left arm.

"Well, I had a little run-in with a crowbar," Steve replied with an irritated little sigh but Danny wasn't sure if he was annoyed about the question or about the fact that someone had managed to beat him. Steve briefly looked at his friend before he cast down his eyes and nervously fiddled with one of the Velcro fasteners of his sling. He hated the feeling of constriction and immobility that thing gave him but he had to admit that his arm hurt a lot less than before. The crowbar had literally hit a major nerve in his shoulder but the doctors were positive that with a little bit of rest and maybe a few physiotherapy sessions there would be no lasting damage.

Knowing his friend well enough to see that Steve was probably trying to hide something, Danny narrowed his eyes and slowly checked him from head to toe. "What else is wrong?" he asked when he had finally noticed the patient's wristband around Steve's wrist, and the tone of his voice made it clear that he wouldn't tolerate any excuses. Scrubbing his right hand over his face in the hope to get rid of the pounding headache Danny stared at his partner as he waited for an answer. His whole body had slowly been starting to hurt during the last few minutes and Danny desperately wished back the former state of pain-free numbness but before he allowed himself to go back to sleep he needed a few answers.

"I took another hit to the back," Steve finally admitted grudgingly, breathing out a deep sigh. "I was admitted for one night because they wanted to measure my… uhm… my… output… to make sure my kidneys are working fine." He briefly pressed his lips together before he looked up at the other man. "But everything's alright and I'm free to go. I was just waiting for you and Grace to wake up."

"Your output, hm?" Danny had to suppress a grin when he saw the hint of red on Steve's cheeks. "That's all? Otherwise you're fine?" Waiting for Steve's affirmative nod, Danny briefly smiled in relief, blinking sluggishly as he tiredly waved his hand through the air, "So, what's the damage in this fine Jersey body?"

"You have a mild concussion," Steve started to explain Danny's injuries, only to be interrupted by his partner's voice right away.

"Well that explains the killer headache," Danny retorted drily, ignoring the hint of impatience on Steve's face. "Go on," he said, flicking his wrist before his hand exhaustedly dropped to the sheets.

"You have bruises on your entire left side, mainly shoulder, elbow, hip. Probably painful but nothing serious," Steve continued clipped, cradling his left arm as he leant forward in his chair.

Danny nodded silently, remembering his unchecked dive to the floor; no wonder his body felt like he had a run-in with a whole football team.

Running his right hand over his hair, Steve kept silent for a moment and threw a short glance at Grace who was still sleeping soundly before he looked back at his friend. "And you suffered a gunshot wound in your back," he said hoarsely, quickly going on before Danny was able to interrupt him again. "The bullet apparently hit your belt and was distinctly slowed down, preventing any major damage." He took a deep breath, shuddering unconsciously when he thought about his next words. "Let me rephrase this, Danny. If the bullet had hit a little bit higher it would probably have hit your kidney and then we wouldn't be having this conversation... or any other, ever again."

Staring silently at the blond man for a long moment, Steve wearily scrubbed his hands over his face. "I thought you were fine when I left you in that basement. Why didn't you tell me that you were hurt, Danny? And how on earth did you manage to get shot in the back?" he sighed, shaking his head as he awaited Danny's answer.

Locking eyes with his partner, Danny hesitantly shrugged his shoulders. "I guess I didn't realize…" he whispered, his voice trailing off mid-sentence. "He shot at me," he said pensively, briefly closing his eyes to remember the events of the previous day. "Michael… he shot at me," Danny repeated a little bit more firmly, slowly nodding his head; his eyes flickered to his daughter and his breath suddenly caught in his throat. "He shot at us!" he exclaimed, grimacing in pain when the outburst sent a new wave of pain through his head and his whole body. Danny's breathing unconsciously sped up not only at the pain but first and foremost at the thought of losing Grace. "He could have hit Grace," he panted out, frantically struggling into a half sitting position to get a better look at his daughter, making sure that she was truly alright.

"Whoa, calm down Danny," Steve tried to soothe the other man but Danny didn't seem to hear him.

"I got my own daughter shot at," Danny whispered in distress, staring wide-eyed at the sleeping girl without really seeing anything, the events of the previous day replaying in his mind over and over again. "Grace could have been killed right in front of my eyes and I did nothing to prevent it. What kind of Dad does that make me?" There was a tone of utter despair and sadness in Danny's voice that made Steve jump up from his chair. He briefly grimaced in pain when the sudden movement jostled his left arm and shoulder but he ignored it for the moment and hurried to Danny's side.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Steve said slowly, firmly grabbing Danny's forearm to catch his attention. "But I'm pretty sure that you didn't hire that man or tell him to shoot at you. You were thrown into a hostage situation and I'm sure you did everything in your power to protect your daughter. Hell, Danny! You used your own body to shield Grace from that bullet. You want to know what kind of Dad that makes you? I'd say a damn good one!"

Seeing his friend's distress and remembering the devious grin on Michael's face, Steve suddenly felt a surge of anger bubbling up inside him and he swore to himself that he would do everything in his power to find and arrest the man who was responsible for Danny's and Grace's injuries. Keeping his hand circled around Danny's am until the trembling of Danny's body underneath his fingertips finally died away and Danny slightly relaxed, Steve smiled softly at his partner. "We can talk later about what happened. Why don't you go back to sleep," he suggested quietly, nodding once toward the second bed. "I'll keep an eye on Grace in the meanwhile."

"Okay," Danny agreed hesitantly after a moment of contemplation, his eyelids already starting to droop. "Thanks," he whispered, licking his dry lips as he heaved a long, tired sigh. "And tell Grace…"

"… that her Danno loves her," Steve interrupted him softly, watching contentedly how the lines of worry on Danny's face slowly smoothed out and his breathing evened out when he finally succumbed to sleep.

**(tbc)**

* * *

See, I can be nice... no cliffhanger this time ;-) I hope you have a great weekend!


	12. Chapter 11

A little bit of father/daughter time before we go back to the actual case - I hope you enjoy :-)

* * *

**Chapter 11:**

After his first, short conversation with Steve on Saturday morning, Danny slept soundly for the next 24 hours, trusting Steve to take care of Grace. He didn't wake once until the next morning when he heard whispering voices invading his sleep and slowly coaxed himself toward consciousness. Comfortably listening a few minutes to the familiar voices, Danny finally took a deep breath and blinked into the bright light of a typical sunny Hawaiian Sunday morning.

"Hey monkey," he croaked out with a huge smile when his gaze fell on his daughter and only a moment later he found himself wrapped into one of Grace's famous hugs.

"Danno," Grace exclaimed happily, contentedly snuggling against her father's uninjured side. "You're awake. I missed you."

"I missed you too," Danny replied, pressing a gentle kiss on top of Grace's head and breathing in the scent of her hair. "Thanks for taking care of her," he whispered with a nod toward his partner who watched the reunion between father and daughter with a happy smile on his face.

"Don't mention it," Steve nodded back, dismissing the topic with a short flick of his wrist. He cocked his head a little bit to the right as he took a closer look at his friend. "How are you feeling?"

Wrapping his right arm around Grace's slender body and gently pressing her against his side Danny sucked his lower lip while he pondered on Steve's question. The pain from his bruises had decreased to an uncomfortable but bearable throbbing and the presence of his daughter who was meeting his gaze with a beaming smile chased the last remnant of his headache away. Oddly enough, the gunshot wound in his back didn't hurt at all, but Danny was sure that an unfortunate or inconsiderate movement could change that fact in a heartbeat.

"I'm feeling pretty good," Danny finally answered honestly, carefully shifting his weight a little bit as he tried to stifle a yawn. A slight twitching in his lower back was the only response to the cautious movement, tempting Danny to raise his bed and fully sit up.

"Take it easy," Steve warned him quietly, closely watching his partner's face for any sign of stress or pain. "Your doctor said you have to be cautious not to pull the stitches. The bullet might have missed your kidney or any other vital organs but nevertheless it did cause deep damage to soft tissue. He said you are absolutely forbidden from lifting or carrying anything heavier than a bottle of water for at least the next two weeks."

"I think I can handle a two week vacation," Danny said drily, grinning brightly as he snuggled deeper into the pillows and turned toward Grace. "Would you like to keep me company, monkey?"

"Who said something about a vacation?" Steve chimed in before Grace was able to answer her father's question. Smirking down at his partner, he added good-humoredly, "I'm sure the doctor will agree to light duty, which means you can finally finish all the paperwork you've been putting on the shelf for weeks now." Briefly pointing at the sling on his left arm he explained with a smug little smile, "Unfortunately I'm incapacitated for paperwork."

"You're… you're incapacitated for paperwork?" Danny asked, raising his eyebrows as he stared at his grinning partner. He took a deep breath and threw a short glance at Grace who had started to giggle softly in anticipation of another funny conversation between her father and her adopted uncle. "Nice try, Steven. But first of all, you know full well that it is your paperwork and not mine, that is waiting to be done and secondly… since when are you left-handed?"

"Well, it was worth a try, wasn't it?" Steve asked back, winking at Grace who giggled even louder when she saw her father shake his head and roll his eyes, mumbling something about crazy partners.

"I'm leaving you in the capable hands of your daughter," McGarrett said after a moment of good-natured silence, turning serious when he locked eyes with Danny. "I'm meeting Chin at the office, we're trying to find out more about Michael," he explained briefly, already moving towards the exit. I'll be back later this afternoon, alright?"

"Yeah, alright," Danny agreed with an impatient wave of his hand, almost shooing Steve out of the door. He was burning to finally learn what had happened to Steve after he had left him and Grace in the basement and he also wanted to know more about the man who had held them hostage, but at the moment he was just happy to spend some time with his daughter, making sure that she had come through the whole matter unscathed.

After Steve had left, father and daughter kept silent for a long moment, just enjoying each other's company without the need to speak.

"What's the matter, monkey?" Danny whispered into Grace's hair when he felt the girl fidgeting nervously by his side. "Are you alright?"

Wiggling out of Danny's embrace, Grace briefly looked at her father before she cast down her eyes and started to fiddle with her pigtails. She opened and closed her mouth a few times but apparently she didn't know how to voice her thoughts so she just sighed heavily and dropped her head.

"Hey, Gracie, what's wrong?" Danny asked softly, cautiously sitting up so that he got a better look at his daughter. He briefly gritted his teeth when his gaze fell on the white patch on her neck, fighting back the memories of anger and fear. After tenderly caressing Grace's hair, Danny placed his fingers underneath her chin and gently forced her head up so that she had to meet his gaze. "You know that you can tell me anything that's bothering you, right?"

He watched in bewilderment how her big brown eyes slowly filled with tears and her lips began to tremble. "Come here, baby," Danny breathed out, immediately wrapping his arms around Grace's body and pulling her into another tight embrace. "Everything's gonna be alright, okay?" he whispered, totally taken aback by the desperate sobs that were now racking her slender body. "Everything's gonna be alright," Danny repeated, ignoring the wetness from the tears that were soaking the front of his hospital gown as he gently rocked back and forth. "Just tell me what's wrong, okay?"

"I'm sorry," Grace sobbed against Danny's chest but for a long time those few words were the only ones she spoke and Danny could do nothing more than mumble nonsense words to calm her down and hold her tight until the sobs finally died down.

"What are you sorry for, Grace?" Danny asked as he carefully broke up the hug and held Grace an arm's length away so that he could see her face.

Looking down at the white bed sheets, Grace nervously knotted her fingers before she finally took a deep breath and slightly squared her shoulder. "It's my fault that you were hurt…" she whispered, her voice trailing off mid-sentence. "I disobeyed your orders," she said and Danny weakly remembered their conversation in the basement before he had lost consciousness.

"Monkey, look at me," he said with a little sigh, once more placing his fingers underneath her chin, patiently waiting until Grace was finally looking him in the eyes. "I already told you that there's nothing you have to be sorry for. Yes, you disobeyed my orders and that was very dangerous, but you had a very good reason and you already agreed that you'd do better the next time, right?" Danny waited for her small, hesitant nod of agreement, hoping with all his might that never again would they be in such a situation. "It wasn't your fault that I was hurt. It was solely Michael's fault, he was the one who pulled the trigger and he was the one with the knife." Danny fell silent, holding his daughter's gaze for a moment before his eyes dropped to her neck; the expression on his face turned grim when he briefly let his fingers trail over the white patch. Looking up, Danny put his hands on both sides of Grace's face and slowly bent forward, placing a tender kiss on her forehead. "I'm sorry that I wasn't able to protect you, I'm sorry that the bad man hurt you," he whispered solemnly, smiling softly when he felt that Grace finally started to relax under his touch.

"Are we good?" Danny asked a moment later when Grace still hadn't said a word, throwing a worried look at his daughter, his smile brightening when she gave him a shy little smile and hesitantly nodded her head.

"That's good," Danny said with a happy smile, once more caressing Grace's hair before he leaned back into the pillows. Despite having slept a whole day, the short conversation with Steve and Grace had left him totally exhausted and to his own embarrassment his eyelids started to droop and he had to suppress a yawn. He tried to mask the pain that surged through his body when he shifted his weight to find a more comfortable position.

"So, monkey, did you spent the night at Uncle Steve's house?" he asked, wearily rubbing his burning eyes as he started a conversation but he had obviously underestimated his daughter's powers of observation.

"It's okay to go back to sleep, Danno," Grace replied softly, totally ignoring his question as she pointed towards her pink backpack on the second bed. "I have a few books with me, so you don't need to stay up to entertain me. I will read a little bit and watch over you while you're sleeping." She hopped off the bed and before Danny could even think about an answer Grace had fetched one of her books and was back on his bed in the blink of an eye, sitting down cross-legged by his side. "And besides, the doctor said you need rest, Danno," Grace declaimed reprovingly, slightly furrowing her brow when she watched her father.

The tone of her voice and the expression on her young face reminded Danny so much of her mother that he cringed inwardly, deciding that it was best to follow her advice without opposition. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked and this time he wasn't able to stifle the yawn that was building up in his chest.

"Go back to sleep," Grace repeated with a sharp nod of her head and her beaming smile was the last thing Danny saw before sleep beckoned him. It followed him into his dreams and he slept soundly for another few hours, his right hand resting limply on Grace's thigh all the time.

**(tbc)**


	13. Chapter 12

I promise there will be more action (and possibly more whump?) in later chapters...  
Here's the next chapter, I hope you still enjoy the story.

I'm sorry that I didn't find the time to respond to all your reviews but please know that I enjoy every single one of them - thanks a lot :-)

* * *

**Chapter 12:**

Danny happily wrinkled his nose when he took in the sweet smell of his favorite baked goods but he was feeling much too comfortable to fully wake up. Taking a deep breath he slowly shifted his weight, careful not to pull his stitches when he felt a sharp twinge in his back.

"Hey sleepyhead, it's about time you grace us with your presence," Steve's cheerful voice reached his ears and Danny's forehead briefly crinkled in annoyance.

"Shut up, Steven, and you better give me one of those malasadas," Danny mumbled, lazily stretching out his right hand without bothering to open his eyes. His other hand reached blindly for the small control device next to his pillow and a moment later the back of the bed was raising with a soft humming noise until Danny was in a half-sitting position. "I'm starving," Danny said, rubbing his hands over his face as he yawned loudly; the sound couldn't drown out the angry rumbling of his stomach and he finally blinked his eyes open when his visitors started to laugh simultaneously.

"Malasada, now," Danny ordered grumpily, demandingly wiggling his fingers in Steve's direction; his partner was standing at the foot of the bed, unconsciously supporting his injured arm with his right hand. McGarrett had removed the annoying sling only a moment ago but he grudgingly had to admit that he'd probably feel better if he would just put it on again.

"Here, Danno," Grace chimed in when Steve didn't move an inch, wiping a trace of sugar from her mouth as she handed her father a large brown paper bag.

"Thanks monkey, you're the best," Danny replied, his mood immediately improving when he reached into the bag. Smiling happily, he looked at the sugary sweet for a short moment before he closed his eyes and sighed contentedly when he took a large bite and started to chew noisily.

"Looks like you're feeling better, brah," Chin said good-humoredly as he stood up from his chair at the other side of the bed and stepped into Danny's line of sight.

"Hey Chin," Danny mumbled, grinning sheepishly at his teammate while he swallowed the last bit of his malasada and wiped his mouth with the exact same gesture that Grace had used just a few moments ago. Nodding once to confirm that he was indeed feeling better, Danny briefly locked eyes with McGarrett before he turned his attention back to Chin. "Sorry that we spoiled your birthday with all this," Danny said sincerely, slowly waving his hand through the air.

"Don't worry about my birthday," Chin immediately brushed off his apology. "The main thing is that you are alright," he said, looking from Danny to Steve and then to Grace. The girl was sitting on the second bed, absently fiddling with the white patch on her neck as she thumbed through the messages on her pink cell phone.

"Steve and Grace already told their stories," Chin said quietly, lowering his voice because he knew that Danny probably wouldn't want Grace to listen. "But why don't we start at the beginning and you tell us your version of what happened?"

Breathing out a long sigh, Danny nodded hesitantly and sat up a little straighter. He turned his head to look at his daughter, watching her tenderly for a long moment before he said gently but firmly, "Gracie, would you mind putting on your earphones?" He emphasized his question with a fitting gesture as Grace looked up at him, waiting patiently for her to rummage through her backpack and pulling out the requested item.

"Okay," Danny said with another sigh after he had made sure that Grace was listening to the music from her phone instead of following their conversation. "Why don't you take a seat, I think this will take a while," he said, pointing at the two chairs at the side of his bed. Furrowing his brow when he noticed the lines of pain on Steve's face when his partner sat down, he slightly shook his head. "I'm not a doctor but I'm sure that sling over there is meant to be on your arm, right? Why don't you just put it on again and stop being such a stubborn mule?"

"I don't need…" Steve started to object but he slammed his mouth shut when Chin handed him the sling, silently staring down at him with raised eyebrows. "Alright," he grumbled in defeat, wiggling into the hated sling before he tightened it around his left arm. He wisely chose to ignore the annoyed snort from his partner when he wasn't able to suppress a small sigh of relief when the pain in his arm and shoulder abated noticeably.

"Okay," Danny repeated with a last brief look at his daughter, turning his full attention at his two teammates as he started to tell his story. "As you probably know, it all started when we picked up the medication for Grace's rabbit…"

* * *

Twenty minutes later Danny and Steve had told their respective stories and for a moment the room was filled with heavy silence when the three teammates stared at each other.

Remembering the part of the story when Michael had pressed the knife to Grace's neck, Steve huffed out an angry breath when he threw a glance at his adopted niece and took in the large white patch. He heard Danny's shaky inhaling and when he turned his head, he saw Danny just raising his slightly trembling hands to forcefully scrub across his face as if to chase away the bad memories.

"We will find Michael and his gang," Chin's calm voice interrupted their dark musings and the Asian man almost chuckled when a blond and a dark head simultaneously turned around and two pairs of eyes stared at him in anticipation. "I've already done some research," he explained, standing up to get his trusty tablet PC from the small table in the corner of the hospital room.

"How's Stefanie?" Danny asked in the meanwhile as he remembered what Steve had told him about the young vet's fate; looking expectantly at his partner he readjusted the back of his bed when he felt a slight twinge of pain in his back. "You said she fell down the stairs?"

"I think she was pushed," Steve corrected him pensively, running his right hand through his hair. "She's not good," he sighed, sadly shaking his head when he recalled the conversation he'd had with her doctor earlier that day. "She suffered a skull fracture and is in a coma right now. The next 24 to 48 hours are critical but the doctors are not sure if she's gonna make it."

"Damn," Danny whispered sympathetically, briefly pressing his lips together when he thought about the young woman. His gaze flickered to his daughter who was slightly rocking back and forth in rhythm with the music from her cell phone, fortunately totally oblivious to the grave subject of the adults' conversation.

"This is Michael Freeman," Chin said slowly as he returned to his chair, briefly turning the tablet PC to present two pictures of the man who had taken Danny and Grace hostage. The picture on the left was a five year old mug shot from the Boston police, but it was the second picture that immediately drew Danny's attention. The photo was showing a young, maybe ten-year-old, dark-haired boy, sporting a bloody lip, a black eye and dark bruises all over his pale face. "From what I was able to find out, Michael's story seems to be true," Chin said, letting the tablet PC drop onto his lap as he leaned back in his chair. "His mother Jessica and his sister Stefanie had left the family when he was 8 years old, obviously disappearing in the middle of the night without telling anybody where they were going. It was not easy to find their trail but I finally found out that they moved to Honolulu in 2005 under Jessica's maiden name Simmons. Jessica died last year from a brain tumor and Stefanie had become a respected vet, recently buying into a thriving local clinic."

Chin looked up to see if Steve or Danny had any questions so far, briefly scrolling through the information on his tablet PC before he continued his explanations. "Michael grew up with his father David, a former boxing champion who had tried to establish himself as a boxing trainer once his career had ended, but unfortunately without much success. After he had spent all his money on a few rather untalented young boxers, David obviously became a heavy drinker who not only regularly beat his wife and children but also forced them all to go pickpocketing to bring home enough money for his alcohol supplies."

"So far Michael's story really seems to be true," Danny agreed quietly, nodding to himself when he remembered the conversation between Stefanie and her brother at the vet clinic. He felt a slight shiver running down his spine, taking a deep breath before he dared to ask the next question, "So, did he really kill his father?"

"Well, we can't be sure about that," Chin answered with a soft sigh and a shrug of his shoulders. "David was stabbed to death when Michael was 13; the circumstances of his death were never completely solved but the local authorities always suspected that young Michael might have had something to do with it." He briefly fiddled with the tablet PC before he leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees. "Michael spent the following years in different foster families, but he never stayed long because he became more and more violent the older he got. He completely disappeared from the radar when he turned 17, only showing up years later when he was arrested for a few minor crimes. After he had spent 18 months in prison, he again disappeared…"

"Until now," Danny interrupted him mid-sentence, sensing that Michael's story had come to an end. He squeezed his eyes shut and firmly rubbed his fingers across his forehead to chase away the ghost of a headache that loomed just outside his consciousness.

"Until now," Chin nodded in agreement, watching Danny's behavior with open concern.

"Are you alright?" Steve asked, beating Chin to the question that was on the tip of his tongue.

"I'm fine, just a light headache," Danny replied honestly, opening his eyes as he dropped his hands into his lap. "What else do we have?"

"Why don't we postpone the rest of the conversation?" Steve suggested quietly after a short moment of contemplation, silently nodding toward the second bed where Grace had just pulled off her headphones.

"Danno, I'm bored," the girl said with a little yawn, timidly looking at her father. "Can I listen again?"

"But of course, monkey," Danny answered gently; briefly exchanging glances with his teammates to make sure they agreed with his decision. "Come here and give me a hug," he said, smiling brightly when Grace eagerly jumped onto his bed and snuggled into his arms. The presence of his daughter immediately made the headache disappear and the faint lines of pain on Danny's face visibly smoothed out.

Standing up from his chair, Steve slapped his good hand on Chin's shoulder and pointed at the door. "Let's grab something to eat," he suggested, intending to give Danny some time with his daughter. Turning around, he grimaced when the uncomfortable sling on his arm restricted his movements, already thinking about the next possibility to get rid of the damn thing. "I'll be back later to pick up Grace. She can stay with me until you are released…"

"You are allowed to go home tomorrow, Danno," Grace interrupted him happily, looking up to meet Steve's gaze. "That's what the doctor said, right, Uncle Steve?" she asked hesitantly when she noticed the surprised frown on her father's face.

"That's right, kiddo," Steve nodded with a reassuring smile. "As long as you behave and take it easy for the next few days," he added with a wagging finger in Danny's direction who still stared at him in utter surprise.

"Are you happy?" Grace asked her father, snuggling back against his chest.

"I am, monkey, I am," Danny chuckled, hugging her tightly as he placed a kiss on the top of her head. He had never dared to hope that he would be released so soon but he certainly didn't challenge that decision. "Thanks for taking care of her," he addressed his partner, repeating his words from earlier that day, but just like before Steve brushed off his attempt to thank him with a flick of his wrist.

"See you later," McGarrett said, unconsciously fiddling with the sling on his arm while he followed Chin toward the door.

"See you later," Danny answered, raising his eyebrows when he noticed his friend's behavior. "Oh, and Steven," he added just when his two teammates were about to leave the room. "I can see that you are in pain, and I'm pretty sure that that sling is on your arm for a specific purpose. So just do me a favor and keep it on, okay?"

"Yeah alright, I will," Steve huffed out in annoyance, blushing slightly when Danny obviously had guessed his plans. "Thanks a lot for your medical advice, Dr. Dolittle," he grumbled sarcastically, uttering the very first name that sprang to his mind but he immediately realized his error when he watched the expression of absolute glee that slowly spread across his partner's face. Pushing an already laughing Chin out of the room Steve tried to close the door behind them but he wasn't fast enough.

"Ha, I knew it," Danny's happily excited voice followed him into the corridor and he rolled his eyes when he anticipated Danny's next words. "You **are** an animal."

**(tbc)**


	14. Chapter 13

I hope you have a great weekend - enjoy the next chapter :-)

* * *

**Chapter 13:**

"Who's that?" Danny asked curiously as soon as he had entered Five-0 headquarters.

He had been released from the hospital earlier that morning and after making sure that Steve had managed to get Grace to school – on-time, properly dressed and well-equipped with everything she needed for her school day – Danny had taken a cab to his apartment. He had showered and changed clothes but after a nice cup of coffee he had already felt bored staying at home, deciding that a trip to the office wouldn't hurt. Danny sighed silently, the strict orders of his doctor still ringing in his ears not to carry anything heavier than a bottle of water to protect his injured back; it seemed that he was really condemned to finish all of Steve's paperwork during the next few days. But at least that would give him something to do and it was a lot better than sitting in his apartment and waiting for Grace to return from school. And besides, he was eager to help solve their current case, finally catching the man that had hurt not only his own sister but also Danny's beloved daughter, his partner and last but not least Danny himself.

"There was another robbery Saturday evening," Chin explained, pointing at the blurry pictures on the wall screens. They were apparently screenshots of a surveillance video and showed a tall Hawaiian man, his face only half hidden by a black ski mask. "HPD just informed us this morning because they hadn't seen any connection to the A-Team case."

"What was it this time? Another supermarket? Gas station?" Danny wanted to know, switching into professional behavior in the blink of an eye. "What has changed? Why didn't they see the connection?" he rattled off his questions, looking expectantly at his teammate until he realized that Steve hadn't said a single word since Danny had entered the office. Worriedly turning around, Danny raised his eyebrows about that very unusual behavior and closely watched his partner for a moment before he asked haphazardly, "You know this guy?"

The scowl on Steve's face increased noticeably and when he started to fiddle angrily with the sling on his arm, it suddenly dawned on Danny. "Oh, that's your friend with the crowbar, right?" he guessed correctly, his question immediately answered with a sharp nod and an impatient snort.

"This time it was a drugstore," Chin answered Danny's original question with a slight shake of his head, ignoring Steve's stony silence for the moment. "But the biggest difference was that the guy was alone and that he took only…"

"Medical supplies," Danny chimed in, once more guessing correctly. "So I presume Michael didn't show up in any of the local hospitals to tend to his gunshot wound?"

"No," Steve replied, finally turning away from the pictures on the screen and looking at his partner. "But now we finally have another name," he said, smiling grimly when he pointed at the large smart table where the facial recognition program was running through its thousands of entries. "What are you doing here, Danny?" he asked, looking down at his partner as if he'd just seen him for the first time. "Aren't you supposed to be on medical leave, comfortably resting on your couch?"

"That's boring," Danny replied dismissively, waving his hands through the air in a large circle. Furrowing his brow in surprise, he watched silently how Steve impatiently opened the straps of his sling and tossed the hated item on a nearby chair, sighing in relief when he was finally free. "And what did I say about the sling, Steven?" Danny asked with a roll of his eyes, hoping for a short moment that his partner would listen to him just for once.

"I can't think with that stupid thing on," Steve said grumpily, immediately stopping his attempts to roll his left shoulder when a sharp pain travelled down his arm. The doctor had warned him that the neuropathic pain would last for at least another week but he'd never guessed that that pain was one of the worst he'd ever experienced in his life.

"I agree with Steve that you should be on medical leave, brah, but nevertheless I'm glad that you're back," China said quietly and he meant every single word; he was really happy to have Danny around. With Kono still in search of Adam and Catherine on holiday to visit her brother and his newborn child on the mainland, they were short of people and in the last few minutes Danny had already proven his great detective skills. Chin's gaze traveled from Danny to Steve and he slightly shook his head when he noticed the lines of pain on Steve's face – he knew that not only Danny should have stayed at home but also Steve. The Ex-SEAL would probably never admit it but Chin could easily see that his arm was bothering him a lot more than he said and the fact that he had already pulled off the sling a few times that morning only to put it back on a short time later clearly spoke to itself.

"How are you really doing, Danno?" Steve asked his friend, blatantly ignoring the worried and annoyed looks that his teammates gave him.

"Obviously better than you," Danny replied but then he quickly dropped the subject. He knew that it was of no use to argue with Steve – most of the time it was simply best to let the man figure out on his own what was good for him. "I'm not allowed to carry heavy things but otherwise I'm totally fine. The headache is gone and my back also feels good."

"Good," Steve grinned cheekily, pointing back over his shoulder toward their offices. "Then you can really finish all of my paperwork."

"Yeah right, that's exactly what I came in for," Danny said, irony dripping from his voice but his eyes sparkled cheerfully when he met McGarrett's gaze. He had really missed their usual little banter during the last two days in the hospital.

"Hey guys, we have a hit," Chin interrupted them excitedly when the facial recognition program finally beeped happily and a well-known face popped up on the large wall screens. "Meet Freddy 'Dasher' Kalaheo."

"Wow, it looks like that guy has a thing for destroying other people's property," Danny said with a low whistle when he read the long list of cases of wanton destruction.

"Not only other people's property," Chin added, pointing at an equally long list of criminal assaults, before he let his fingers dance over the surface of the smart table and called up another picture. "And it seems that he also likes to drag in his little brother. Franky Kalaheo – does he look familiar?" he addressed Steve who nodded in grim satisfaction.

"That's the guy I knocked down first, the one who was waiting next to the door," Steve said, narrowing his eyes when he studied the pictures.

"Okay, so we already have three names," Danny summarized what they had found out so far as he pulled up the chair onto which Steve had previously tossed his sling. He wordlessly grabbed the sling and handed it to Steve with a significant look and a slight nod of his head before he slumped into the chair and cautiously sat back. "What about the other two guys? And is there still no trace of the van? I can't believe that nobody has seen it, a car like that certainly has to get someone's attention."

"Unfortunately there's absolutely no sign of the car, it's like it has fallen of the face of the earth. HPD has checked all parking decks, garages, warehouses, almost everything that's big enough to hide a van. And it's not an ordinary van; its painting should easily draw somebody's attention." A lick of annoyance was creeping into Chin's usually calm voice and he sighed silently before he added, "The fact that we don't even have a license plate number doesn't make things easier." Turning around, he crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned against the smart table. "We still have no idea where the van came from; I checked with the registration office but as far as I could find out, it's not registered in Hawaii and nobody can remember seeing it before the robberies started."

"Maybe it was stolen and repainted?" Steve suggested as he grudgingly put the sling back on, gritting his teeth as he scowled at his teammates, but Chin and Danny knew better than to comment on Steve's actions, deliberately ignoring the soft groan when he unintentionally twisted his left shoulder.

"Maybe," Danny nodded pensively, sucking his lower lip when he thought about other possibilities.

"Didn't Fong say something about some traces of soil that were found at one of the crime scenes?" Steve asked after a long moment of heavy silence, trying to recall the phone call he had had with the lab technician while he had waited in front of the vet clinic. If he remembered correctly the phone call had suddenly been cut off in mid-sentence and after all the hassle and worry on Friday evening he had simply forgotten about that evidence.

"Ah yes," Chin replied, slowly nodding his head. "I think he said that this particular kind of soil can't be found anywhere on the islands."

"Okay," Danny drawled in response, furrowing his brow in confusion about these findings. He absently toyed with that piece of information in his mind and then a moment later his head jolted up when a sudden inspiration hit him. "Why don't we check for similar cases on the mainland?" Danny suggested quietly, cautiously stretching his limbs before he stood up from the chair and joined Chin and Steve at the smart table. "Maybe we'll get lucky," he said with a shrug of his shoulder, narrowing his eyes when he saw the skeptical expression on his partner's face.

"And you think they brought the van by sea, all the way from the mainland?" Steve asked, shaking his head as he impatiently laughed off Danny's idea.

"Yeah, why not?" Danny retorted, indignantly waving his hands through the air. "Ever heard of living on a boat? It's a concept that you of all people should be familiar with, Mr. Navy SEAL."

There was a moment of utter silence after Danny's little outburst when all three men stared speechlessly at each other, thinking about Danny's suggestion and the implications behind it.

"That's it," Chin finally breathed out, nodding at his teammate before he whirled around and immediately started to feed the computer with information. "I think you're right, brah."

Suddenly everything seemed to make total sense and even Steve had to admit that Danny might be on the right track. Everything Michael and his men had stolen beside the money and the cigarettes was either non-perishable food which was suitable for a long sea journey or equipment that could be used to maintain a ship.

"So, we're searching for a ship or a boat that is large enough to provide cover for the van," Steve said while he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. "I'll inform the coast guard so they know what they need to look out for." He walked away a few steps to have some privacy but then he stopped in his tracks and turned around again. "And we need to look for landing stages. If they really drive the car directly onto the boat or ship, there are probably not too many suitable locations around the island."

Danny furrowed his brow about Steve's comment, briefly asking himself if he really wanted to know in detail what the hell the difference between a ship and a boat was. But then the ghost of a smile appeared on his face when he remembered their very first case together and the fact that his crazy partner did not necessarily need a suitable landing stage to drive a car directly onto a ship.

"I'll run a search and check all the robbery locations of the last few months for nearby harbors or landing stages," Chin interrupted Danny's memories, typing even more information into the computer and for the next few minutes the soft beeping of the smart table and the low humming of the server were the only sounds that disturbed the silence.

"Let's go back to Danny's idea. I was searching for robberies of supermarkets, drugstores, gas stations on the mainland, where more than one person and a black van were involved," Chin explained his findings after Steve had finished his phone call with the coast guard. "I limited the search to the last few years and went back until October 2008, the time when Michael was released from prison."

He called up a map of the US which was covered with a huge amount of colored dots; the sheer multitude of the results made Steve sigh in anger and frustration while Danny just silently raised his eyebrows.

"There were more than 500 hits but I think I was able to narrow down the search," Chin continued with an encouraging look in Danny's and Steve's direction. His fingers danced over the surface of the smart table and the map on the wall screens changed and zoomed in until it finally came to a rest, now only showing the US west coast states, dotted with maybe 70 or 80 blue and 2 or 3 red marks. "I think we just need to have a closer look at those incidents," Chin said, briefly pointing at the map before he turned around to face the other two men.

Simultaneously stepping closer, Steve and Danny stared silently at the map, taking in the information that was displayed on the screen. There was a cluster of blue dots and one red dot in the greater Seattle area, marked with a label 'August 2009'. Further to the south more blue dots were following along the shoreline of Oregon and California, starting with 'June 2009' around Aberdeen, 'October 2010' around Astoria and then a few smaller towns all the way down to San Francisco, 'September 2012', where the cluster of blue dots was again joined by a single red dot. The label next to the Los Angeles' dots was reading 'January 2013' and then there was a final cluster of blue dots in the greater San Diego area, labeled 'May 2013' and also accompanied by a red dot.

"The blue dots stand for robberies without casualties, the red dots for robberies with three, four or even five dead," Chin explained quietly, zooming in the map even more while he continued talking. "The red dot is always the very last in the series of robberies; after that there is a break of a few months and then the robberies begin anew a little bit further south."

"Do we know anything about the victims?" Steve asked, fiddling again with his sling.

"They were all well-known local petty criminals," Chin nodded slowly.

"Am I the only one or do you also think that can't be coincidence?" Danny murmured more to himself than actually addressing his teammates. "It looks like Michael is getting rid of his accomplices before he moves on, right?"

"That's also my impression," Chin agreed while Steve just nodded pensively, still staring at the dots on the map.

"All the robbery locations here are not more than one or two miles away from the coastline," McGarrett remarked, pointing at the marks in the San Francisco area that were displayed on the screen.

"And it's the same in the other regions; I just brought up one of the cities as an example," Chin confirmed Steve's comment.

"So, they really could hide the van on a boat," Danny said excitedly. He had the impression that they had finally made a huge step forward in their effort to solve the case. "That is why they always stay near the coastline and why nobody has seen the van."

"It's pretty obvious," Steve huffed out, running his right hand over his hair. "Why haven't we noticed that before?"

"Because we are on a goddamn island," Danny chimed in sullenly. "Everything on this pineapple infested hellhole is near the water."

**(tbc)**


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14:**

Two and a half days later everyone was beyond frustrated.

So far neither Five-0 nor HPD nor the coast guard had found any trace of Michael or his gang, of their black van or of any boat – or ship – that might serve as their hide-out. HPD was surveilling every supermarket, drugstore or gas station that was situated near the waterfront as well as near a landing stage that was big enough to drive a van onto it. The coast guard was checking every vessel in a forty-mile-radius around Oahu and Steve and Chin had repeatedly borrowed Kamekona's helicopter to support the search from the air. Danny had vehemently declined to join them but by late Wednesday afternoon every single piece of paperwork was long finished, signed and properly filed.

The three members of Five-0 were once again standing around the smart table in the middle of the office, heatedly discussing Michael's next move or silently brooding over a large map of Oahu to search the coastline for a possible next goal. The atmosphere was thick with growing frustration and everyone was jumping in anticipation when Chin's cell phone suddenly started to ring.

All the annoyance and tiredness were gone in the blink of an eye and Steve and Danny stared expectantly at their teammate who was listening sincerely to whoever was at the other end of the line. Chin nodded silently a few times before he finally said, "Alright, I'm on my way." Taking a deep breath he squared his shoulders and turned around to face the other two men, knowing that they probably wouldn't like what he was going to tell them.

"That was Duke," Chin began, immediately raising his hands to silence his boss when Steve opened his mouth to interrupt him. "We have a shooting and a possible hostage situation at a gas station and he wants one of us to join him there."

"Is it Michael's gang?" Danny chimed in, completely ignoring Chin's gesture as he agitatedly rocked back and forth on his heels. "Where?"

"It doesn't fit Michael's MO," Steve said slowly, angrily shaking his head when he threw a look at his watch. "It's too early and he's never taken hostages before when he committed a robbery."

"Maybe he has acquired a taste for it," Danny grumbled under his breath, raising his head to look at his partner. He unconsciously rubbed his injured back, suppressing a shudder when he remembered the knife against Grace's throat and her pitiful sobs.

"I also don't think it has anything to do with Michael and his gang," Chin said, his fingers dancing over the surface of the smart table. "The location doesn't fit." He pointed at a red flashing dot about halfway between Honolulu and Kailua, almost exactly in the middle of the island.

For a short moment the three men stared silently at the map before Steve finally heaved a deep breath and whirled around. "It doesn't matter, let's go," he exclaimed, grateful about every possibility to leave the office and do something useful.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, where the hell do you think you're going?" Danny replied, shaking his head as he firmly grabbed Steve's right arm. "I might be allowed to carry the weight of my weapon but I'm not cleared for field work and I doubt that your doctor agreed to such ill-conceived actions," Danny said with raised eyebrows and a significant look at Steve's sling. "I bet you can't even put your vest on without yelping in pain."

"I don't yelp," Steve scoffed, indignantly shaking his head at Danny's comment.

"Do you remember that sound you let loose a few minutes ago when you finally put your sling back on?" Danny asked, waving his hands directly in front of Steve's face before he lightly jabbed his index finger into Steve's left shoulder. He had barely touched the other man but Steve immediately backed off with a small groan and swatted away Danny's hand to protect his injured limb. "That sounded very much like a yelp to me."

The ringing of Steve's cell phone luckily saved him from giving an answer and with a last scowl at his partner he silently turned around and answered the call. "McGarrett," Steve barked into his phone, angrily pacing in front of the smart table as he threw a jealous look in Chin's direction who was just gearing up to meet up with Sergeant Lukela. Listening for a while Steve's features softened a little bit and very slowly a tentative smile crept across his lips. "That's good news, thank you, doc," he said, ending the call and stowing the cell phone back into his pocket.

"That was Stefanie Simmons' doctor," Steve explained, raising his hand to massage his aching left arm but he quickly stopped the movement when he saw the smirk on Danny's face. He tried to ignore the soft snort from his partner when he continued, "She has woken up, and we can talk to her whenever we want."

"Okay, good," Chin nodded his head as he closed the last Velcro strap of his Kevlar vest. "Why don't you go to the hospital and talk to Stefanie while I meet up with Duke," he suggested calmly, his eyes crinkling slightly when he saw Danny vigorously nod in agreement and stick his thumb in the air behind Steve's back. "I'll call you as soon as I know what's going on," Chin promised and with a last wave of his right hand he left the office, smiling good-humoredly when the banter of his teammates followed him halfway down the stairs.

"So Danno, since you're not cleared for field work," Steve said, narrowing his eyes as he grinned smugly at his partner. His mood seemed to have brightened noticeably now that he had another task at hand and as much as he hated to admit it, his arm and shoulder still hurt a lot and deep inside he knew that he wasn't fit for field work either. "I suggest you stay here at the office while I talk to Stefanie. See you later, partner." He slapped his right hand onto Danny's shoulder and slowly headed for the door, grinning even brighter when Danny immediately responded to the challenge.

"The hell I will, Steven," Danny burst out, storming after his partner and actually beat him to the exit, swiftly squeezing past him through the door. He put himself in Steve's way, crossed his arms in front of his chest and locked eyes with the taller man. Danny kept silent for almost a full minute and Steve could literally see how the wheels inside his head were turning. "This man – Michael – he hurt my little girl," Danny said slowly, briefly sucking his lower lip before he continued. "He pressed a knife against her throat until it drew blood, Steve. There's no way I'm staying here! And he probably pushed his own sister down the stairs and almost killed her, so let's talk to her and see if we can find out something useful. Maybe she has an idea what he is up to or where he is." Danny exhaled the air in a long tired sigh while he unfolded his arms and ran both hands over his hair, still holding Steve's gaze.

"Hey, calm down, okay? I was just making fun of you," Steve replied quickly, uneasily furrowing his brow about Danny's sudden outburst. He could easily read the expression on his friend's face; it wasn't exactly difficult to know how he must be feeling because Steve also felt a huge surge of anger bubbling up in him when he remembered the bloody cuts on Gracie's neck.

"I know, it's just…" Danny's voice trailed off mid-sentence and he slightly shrugged his shoulders. He knew his partner understood what he wanted to say so he never finished the sentence but instead he reached into his left pocket and pulled out his car keys. "Come on, you one-armed bandit," Danny said after a deep cleansing breath, laughing out loud about the expression on Steve's face when he heard the new nickname. "Since your injuries are too serious to do some paperwork, you certainly don't mind if I drive my own car, right?"

Without waiting for Steve's reply, Danny turned around and headed for the staircase, chuckling all the way down to the parking place while Steve tried his best to talk him out of that stupid idea and let him drive.

* * *

Steve and Danny were just about to leave the elevator at the fifth floor of the hospital when Steve's cell phone started to ring once more.

"It's Chin," McGarrett said quickly after a brief look at the caller's ID. He motioned Danny to follow him into a quiet corner of the corridor before he pressed his thumb onto the display and answered the call. "Hey Chin, you're on speaker." Steve slightly raised his right hand, holding up the cell phone so that Danny could also comfortably listen to Chin's report.

But before Chin was able to start his explanations the tinny sound of a loudspeaker announcement echoed through the corridor, drowning out all other voices.

"_Room 443, code blue… code blue, room 443._"

The announcement was immediately followed by hectic activity; two nurses and a doctor were rushing across the corridor while a third nurse was hastily wheeling an emergency cart into a room at the other end of the corridor.

Slightly shaking his head, Steve turned his attention back to the cell phone in his right hand. "Go on, Chin," he said, completely concentrating on the case at hand.

"The situation was already under control when I arrived here," Chin explained curtly, speaking loud and clear to drown out the hectic background noises on his side of the line. Danny immediately raised his eyebrows and exchanged a worried look with his partner when he heard the unusual expression of anger and impatience in Chin's voice. "We have four dead bodies – I'm sending you the pictures right now so you can see for yourself."

Only a moment later the phone in Steve's hand chirped softly and a picture appeared on the screen.

"Is that…" Danny started as he bent forward to have a better look at the display, almost colliding with Steve who mirrored his movement at the exact same time.

"Freddy Kalaheo," Steve interrupted his partner with a sharp nod of his head; he felt a small shiver running down his spine while he impatiently waited for Chin to go on.

"And his brother Franky," Chin confirmed Steve's suspicion just when the cell phone beeped again and then two more times in rapid succession.

"Yes, that's Franky," Steve commented on the second picture in a strained whisper before he wiped his thumb across the screen to get to the next picture.

"I'm not sure about the others," Chin's voice sounded muffled from the other end of the line. "They fit your description of the other two men, but you're the only one who can identify them."

"Jeez, this one's almost a kid," Danny said, sadly shaking his head when he looked at the third picture that showed a young man.

"Yes," Steve said once more, briefly squeezing his eyes shut when he remembered how he had knocked down the poor boy only a few days ago.

"The last one is a bit nasty," Chin tried to warn his teammates but Steve had already called up the last picture.

"A bit nasty?" Danny exclaimed, scrunching up his face as he quickly averted his eyes in disgust. "That guy is missing his whole face, Chin."

"I know," Chin replied apologetically, sounding like he was just rubbing his hand over his face.

"Disgusting," Danny huffed out, shaking his head in disbelief as he watched his partner but Steve didn't seem to notice the nastiness of the picture, narrowing his eyes as he took a closer look.

"Size and build seem to fit," McGarrett murmured pensively, trying to find a characteristic feature that identified the fourth victim beyond doubt. But except for the color of his skin he wasn't able to make out anything, so Steve could only assume that the picture showed the fourth member of Michael's gang.

"Michael is getting rid of his accomplices," Danny breathed out, nervously sucking his lower lip as he looked up and locked eyes with Steve. "He's ready to move on. We need to find him fast."

Steve nodded silently, gritting his teeth while he thought about the next steps. He was just about to discuss his plans with his team when he was once more interrupted by a hectic turmoil at the other end of the corridor. One of the patients was quickly wheeled out of his room; two nurses were hastily pushing the bed into a large elevator, followed by a young doctor who was agitatedly talking into his phone.

Slightly shrugging his good shoulder, Steve turned his head and exchanged a quick look with Danny before he said, "Chin, find out as much as possible at the crime scene. Has anyone seen Michael? What about the van? There must be something… anything that helps us find the man." He sighed heavily, slightly grimacing in pain when he tried to move his left arm; the damn sling was really bothering him but after a quick glance at his partner he decided that he was neither in the mood nor did they have the time for one of Danny's rants. "We talk to Stefanie and see if she knows something," Steve continued as he slowly stepped out of the corner, nodding Danny to follow him to the nurses' station in the middle of the corridor.

"Understood," Chin answered curtly and after a quick goodbye and the promise to stay in close contact, they ended the call.

Steve and Danny both thought about the new developments of their current case while they silently walked along the corridor until they had reached the nurses' station. The door to the adjacent room – apparently a kind of recreation room – was standing ajar and they could see a young nurse sitting on one of the chairs, pressing an ice pack against her head. She was crying softly while another nurse was trying to comfort her, gently rubbing her back.

"How can I help you?" a middle-aged, gray-haired nurse smiled friendly at Steve and Danny, her eyes widening slightly when they showed her their badges.

"Commander McGarrett, Detective Williams," Danny introduced themselves matter-of-factly with a flick of his wrist, politely returning the woman's smile. "We're here to talk to Stefanie Simmons."

"Oh, I'm sorry," the nurse replied, immediately turning serious; her gaze briefly flickered to the end of the corridor before she slowly stood up from her chair. "I'm afraid that's not possible at the moment."

"Why not?" Steve chimed in, impatiently furrowing his brow. "Her doctor called me about half an hour ago. He said she's awake and we were allowed to talk to her."

"It's really important that we speak to her," Danny added a little bit more friendly but also with a good amount of emphasis in his voice.

"Yes… yes, of course," the nurse stammered, gesturing half-heartedly toward the room behind her. "But there was an incident a few minutes ago," she started to explain, interrupting herself to take a deep breath and gather her thoughts. "I'm really sorry, but Miss Simmons was just rushed into emergency surgery…"

"What?" Danny interrupted her, whirling around and staring open-mouthed at the elevator at the end of the corridor when he remembered the turmoil just a few moments ago, his agitated gesticulation dying down in the middle of the movement.

"What happened?" Steve wanted to know, the commanding tone of his voice caused the nurse to take a small step backwards.

Swallowing nervously she slowly nodded her head toward the weeping nurse behind her. "I think you should talk to Elena."

"What happened?" Steve repeated through angrily gritted teeth as he exchanged a quick look with his partner. He felt that something was utterly wrong but at the moment he just couldn't lay his finger on it and judging by the expression on Danny's face, his partner felt exactly the same way.

The gray-haired nurse motioned them to come around her desk and lead them into the small, cozy recreation room that smelled nicely of coffee and cake. "Elena, here are two police officers," she softly addressed the young nurse who was still crying silently. "Tell them what happened."

Elena slightly shook his head when she heard the footsteps behind her but then she took a deep breath, squared her shoulder and defiantly raised her head to look at the newcomers. "Police?" she whispered, throwing a confused look at the two men in front of her.

"We're with Five-0," Steve clarified, trying his best to keep his voice calm but being patient was getting more and more difficult with every passing second.

"We wanted to talk to Stefanie Simmons," Danny chimed in, taking a small step forward to place himself slightly in front of his partner. He knew that a lot of people were intimidated by Steve's appearance and behavior and right now the young nurse seemed to be scared enough, even without having to face an impatient SEAL. "Why don't you tell us what happened to your head?" he asked calmly, nodding at the lump on Elena's right temple and at the ice pack in her hands.

"I wanted to check on Miss Simmons' but when I entered her room I noticed that she had a visitor," Elena started to talk, her voice slightly trembling. "So I excused myself and left but then I heard loud shouting and went back in."

"Go on, you're doing great," Danny encouraged her with a gentle smile when her speech faltered, throwing his partner a sharp look when he felt Steve impatiently fidgeting behind his back.

"Miss Simmons and her visitor were arguing heavily about something and then I saw how the man bent over her and forcefully slapped her in the face," Elena continued her story, briefly grimacing in pain when she touched the lump on her own temple. "Then he grabbed her hair and he shook her… he shook her so badly that the whole bed was rocking. I… I tried to tear him away but he… he hit me and pushed me away so that I fell to the floor. Before I could stop him he was gone and then Miss Simmons suddenly started to convulse..."

"A man?" Steve asked breathlessly, unconsciously massaging his left arm as he stepped forward so that he was standing directly next to Danny. "What did he look like?"

"I couldn't see his face. All I know is that he was tall and lean with long black, greasy hair." the young nurse apologetically shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, and I think he was injured," she added after a moment of contemplation, sharply nodding her head when the memories suddenly came back. "He favored his right arm and shoulder. I'm not sure because everything happened so quickly but there might have been a stain of blood on his right sleeve."

"Michael," Steve huffed out through gritted teeth while Danny already pulled his cell phone out of his pocket to call for back-up. "Where is he now?"

"I don't know," Elena replied in a low whisper when she felt the anger that was radiating from Steve. "I'm sorry."

"I think I saw him taking the stairs," the older nurse chimed in, placing a soothing hand on Elena's shoulder while she pointed at the end of the corridor. It seemed to be really bad luck that the hospital had two sets of staircases at each side of the building and that Michael had obviously randomly decided to leave at the opposite side of where Steve and Danny had arrived.

"Maybe we can catch up with him," Steve exclaimed while he was already rushing out of the room and down the corridor. "He can't be far off. Come on, Danny."

"I called Chin, he's on the way, and he's bringing HPD," Danny said breathlessly when he had finally reached Steve who was impatiently waiting for his partner in front of the elevator and the staircases.

Steve nodded sharply to signal Danny that he had acknowledged the information before he pointed at the large door to the left of the elevator. "I take this one, you take the other side," he said curtly as he placed his right hand on the door handle. "We need to find Michael; this might be our last chance."

"Steve, we don't have communication devices or body armor and we're both not completely fit," Danny reminded his partner, nervously sucking his lower lip. "Please don't let us do anything rash or stupid, okay?"

"We stay in contact via phone," Steve replied, clipped, completely ignoring Danny's concerns. Fumbling around for his cell phone he briefly grinned humorlessly at the other man. "And you called for backup, right?" he said before he soundlessly disappeared through the door in front of him.

"Great," Danny muttered worriedly, turning around and heading toward the second door while he also pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. "This is just great," he repeated as he pushed open the door, grateful that they at least had their weapons, if nothing else.

**(tbc)**


	16. Chapter 15

Are you ready for more whump?

* * *

**Chapter 15:**

Rushing down the stairs, Steve stopped occasionally to throw a look over the banister and listen to any suspicious sound but he neither saw nor heard anything that indicated that Michael was somewhere near.

Steve suppressed a groan when he jumped down three stairs at a time and the movement sent a wave of pain through his left arm. He had tossed away the hated sling two floors above and it was now lying abandoned in the corner of the landing between floors 4 and 5. Stopping briefly when the cell phone in his right hand started to buzz, Steve threw another look over the banister, pressing his left arm against his ribcage and tightly grabbing a piece of his T-shirt to move his shoulder as little as possible.

Holding his breath when he noticed a movement on the second floor, Steve gritted his teeth in frustration when he saw two giggling nursing students who were just about to sit down on a step and tried to light a cigarette. "Danny?" Steve asked impatiently as he pressed the phone to his ear. The young women startled in surprise when they heard Steve's voice from above, staring up for a long moment before they looked at each other and quickly disappeared from Steve's sight, giggling even louder than before.

"Steve," McGarrett heard his partner whisper, immediately forgetting the distraction below as he listened to Danny's agitated voice. "He's here… Michael… I can see him…" Steve assumed correctly that Danny kept his voice low to not draw Michael's attention.

"Where?" Steve asked hoarsely, jogging down the stairs a little bit slower than before as he waited for Danny's answer.

"He's at the very bottom of the staircase," Danny explained breathlessly; just like Steve he was also walking down the stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible. "It looks like he's making a call. He doesn't seem to be in a hurry, he's just leaning against… damn!" Danny interrupted himself mid-sentence and Steve unconsciously sped up his steps, already guessing Danny's next words.

"He's moving," the blond detective exclaimed; his voice was now a lot louder than before, telling Steve that Michael was probably no longer within earshot. "Michael's gone… basement," Danny hissed out, clipped, and Steve could hear his quickening footsteps over the phone.

"Okay Danny, I'm almost there," McGarrett replied out of breath, "We'll get him." With those words he thumbed off his phone and shoved it into his pocket, drawing his weapon at the same movement.

Jumping down the last few steps, Steve stopped briefly to catch his breath before he leaned against the door to the basement and pushed it open very carefully. His weapon at the ready, he peeked through the crack of the door, furrowing his brow in surprise when the basement turned out to be an underground garage.

The sound of a starting engine filled the air and only a heartbeat later a movement in the far right corner of the garage caught Steve's attention. He easily recognized the black GMC van with its red painted rims and the red stripe along the side of the vehicle and without thinking twice Steve started to run.

Chasing across the dimly lit parking level, Steve raised his weapon and aimed for one of the tires before the car picked up too much pace and moved out of reach or disappeared around a corner. This might be their best and only chance to catch Michael, and Steve would be damned if he let him escape.

Unable to use his left arm to support his shooting hand and due to the fact that he didn't stop to fire his weapon, Steve angrily gritted his teeth when he needed twice as many shots as usual to hit his goal. The first bullet hit the side view mirror at the driver's side of the van, causing it to splinter with a crunching sound, but otherwise there was no visible effect.

Narrowing his eyes, Steve briefly held his breath and fired a second time, grinning humorlessly when one of the back tires burst and the vehicle swerved dangerously to the left without decreasing its speed. With a deafening screeching it scraped by a concrete pillar and the remains of the side view mirror clattered uselessly to the floor before the van fishtailed to the right, spun halfway around its own axis and dashed with its entire right side against a parked ambulance.

The motor of the black van stuttered to a halt and for a short while the underground garage was deadly silent. Steve had no idea how much time had passed since he had spoken to Danny on the phone but for a brief moment he wondered where the heck his partner was.

The silence lasted only for a few seconds before the engine stuttered a few more times; it was obvious that the driver of the van didn't intend to surrender himself but luckily the motor refused to start completely.

"Damn," McGarrett hissed under his breath when there was still absolutely no sign of Danny. As much as he wanted to wait for the other man, he knew that he was running out of time and that he had to act fast if he wanted to catch Michael.

The complete right side of the vehicle was tightly jammed against the ambulance and without the side view mirror at the driver's side Steve had no chance to see what was going on inside the driver's cab. He didn't know if Michael was armed but he was not willing to take the risk so there was only one option left; his weapon at the ready Steve didn't hesitate and cautiously approached the black van from behind.

"Five-0," he shouted, his voice eerily echoing across the deserted parking level. "Michael Freeman, you're under arrest. Get out of the car, hands in front of you where I can see them."

Waiting a few seconds, Steve huffed out an angry breath when nothing happened. "Michael Freeman, get out of the car. Now!" he repeated his orders, barking out the words as he stepped closer to the driver's door just when the engine suddenly started with a rattling noise. Quickly raising his left arm, Steve tried to block out the onslaught of pain that surged from his shoulder all the way down to his fingers when he placed his hand on the door handle.

Unable to suppress an anguished cry, Steve stumbled backwards when the driver's door of the van flew open and his left arm was forcefully pushed away. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he quickly tried to regain his balance, at the same time raising his weapon at the new target.

"You?" Steve stammered, truly shocked when he looked up and recognized the man who was just jumping out of the car but he had only a split second to pull himself together before a bulky black fist aimed for his face and he had to duck away.

"Do you remember me, cop?"

White teeth were brightly sparkling in the dark face and the smile was almost friendly if the last word hadn't been spat out with unconcealed hatred and self-confident arrogance. Towering in front of Steve was one of Michael's accomplices, the huge black guy with the build and attitude of a football player, whose path Steve had already crossed a few days ago.

It took only the blink of an eye before McGarrett realized that Michael had fooled them all and suddenly everything made sense. The fourth body Chin had found at the gas station was nothing but a diversion to make them believe that Michael was on his own. But the man was injured, suffering from an untreated gunshot wound to his shoulder; he probably needed help to get away from the island so it was only logical that he kept one of his accomplices.

"Damn," Steve muttered once again, deeply annoyed about their own credulity but he hadn't much time to dwell on his dark musings because his opponent once more struck out and lunged at him, completely ignoring the gun in Steve's right hand.

The ensuing fight was fast, dirty and violent and with only one functioning arm Steve didn't stand the ghost of a chance against such a bull of a man.

The first blow was specifically aimed at his left shoulder, causing Steve to cry out in pain as he staggered backwards and dropped to his knees. He tried to raise his trembling right hand and fire a shot but the second blow swept the gun from his grip; the weapon clattered to the ground and disappeared under a nearby car, sliding completely out of Steve's reach.

Supporting himself at the rear bumper of the van, McGarrett struggled to his feet; he could finally place a few good hits himself but the other man just grinned arrogantly at him, took a small step to the side and carelessly wiped the blood from his split lip. Steve tried to follow the movement but he wasn't fast enough and the next blow once more hit his injured shoulder, closely followed by a punch to his left temple.

Stumbling against the back of the van, Steve wasn't able to brace himself and his head connected painfully with the cold metal. He gathered all his remaining strength to keep upright when his knees started to give way but his vision was already graying around the edges and Steve felt himself slowly sliding down to the ground.

In a last desperate attempt to fight his opponent Steve feverishly blinked his eyes and raised a trembling right hand but the other man's fingers unstoppably grabbed a fistful of his hair and banged his head against the van's rear door.

Steve's last coherent thought before a large black fist connected painfully with his jaw and he finally lost consciousness, was, 'Where the hell was Danny?'

**(tbc)**

* * *

Sorry, but no whump without a cliffhanger ;-)


	17. Chapter 16

Thank you so much for all your great reviews :-) You're the best, I love you!

* * *

**Chapter 16:**

Danny couldn't believe his luck.

The first thing he saw after the door had closed behind him and he had looked over the banister was Michael Freeman. The young, dark-haired man was standing at the bottom of the stairs, lazily leaning against the railing while talking on the phone.

The staircase was totally deserted so Danny could actually hear the soft murmur of Michael's voice; he wasn't able to make out individual words but the tone of Michael's voice made it clear that the young man was relaxed and obviously not in a hurry.

Swiftly calling his partner, Danny tried to make no noise as he started to walk down the stairs. He had absolutely no intention of alerting Michael of his presence, but his hopes to catch the man off guard while he was still on the phone were shattered when Michael suddenly ended the call and disappeared from Danny's line of sight.

Curtly explaining to Steve what was going on, Danny raced down the stairs as fast as his body allowed; the familiar twinge in his right knee was joined by a dull throbbing in his lower back after three or four stories and Danny was pretty sure that this was not exactly what his doctor understood by 'light duty'.

Raising his eyebrows Danny puffed out a relieved sigh when he had finally reached the first floor and there was only one more level to go. He had replaced his cell phone with his gun a few levels above and now his fingers were nervously curling around the handle of his weapon when he tried to picture the upcoming events.

Danny was just about to round the last corner before he reached the basement when he finally ran out of luck. Stopping dead in his tracks, he wildly flailed his arms to keep himself from toppling over when he suddenly found himself face to face with a wooden ladder, three buckets, a large tool box and an obviously very angry janitor.

The tall gray-haired man stared at Danny with a mixture of surprise, horror and absolute bloodlust before he squared his shoulders and stepped a little bit to the left to block Danny's way. "This door is closed," he squeaked hoarsely, threateningly waving a large brush so that small droplets of light yellow paint were flung through the air.

"Whoa," Danny exclaimed as he jumped back to prevent his clothes from getting splattered. He narrowed his eyes as he watched the man in front of him but the older man just stared back without moving or saying another word. "Excuse me," Danny said politely after a moment of complete silence, nodding once as he tried to pass the janitor and his painting equipment.

"I said, this door is closed," the gray-haired man said in a low growl, once more blocking Danny's way as he stretched out the brush like a lance. He was almost two heads taller than Danny but with a very thin, almost frail body so that he was no real opponent for the cop.

"Okay," Danny replied with another nod of his head, flashing a friendly smile at the other man as he took a small step forward. "Would you be so kind and let me pass?"

"Absolutely not," the janitor answered, accidentally coloring his gray work coat as he put his arms akimbo and vigorously shook his head. "This door is closed," he repeated stubbornly, slowly sounding like a broken record.

"Okay, listen," Danny huffed out impatiently, pointing at the badge that was clipped to his belt. "I'm a police officer and you're hindering an official police investigation. I really need to go through that door and I know for sure that you let another man pass just a few minutes ago. So I'm asking for the last time, would you please step aside, Sir?"

The janitor's eyes widened briefly when he finally noticed the gun in Danny's right hand and for a short moment he really looked like he was ready to give in but then he grimly furrowed his brow and tightly pressed his lips together in a thin line. "I don't know about another man," he murmured defiantly, jumping in surprise and dropping his brush when the sound of a gunshot came through the closed door.

"Okay, that's enough," Danny exclaimed as he squeezed past the older man, gritting his teeth in fear and concern for his partner when he heard a second shot only moments after the first.

Danny jumped down the last few steps and he was just reaching for the door handle when he felt a hand on his right shoulder, jerking him away from the door.

"This door is newly painted," the janitor squeaked agitatedly, his face contorted with outright fury as he tried with all his might to prevent Danny from opening the door. "You can't go through."

Feeling the last bit of his fragile patience slip away, Danny whirled around and only a heartbeat later he had pressed the man against the wall, twisting his left arm behind his back; he had absolutely no intention to hurt the older man but right now he just hadn't the time to be gentle. "I swear I will arrest you for obstruction of justice if you won't let me pass," Danny growled, increasing the pressure on the other man's body for a short moment before he let him go. "Are we clear?"

Not waiting for an answer, Danny turned around and for the second time in as many minutes he reached for the door handle.

"This is trespassing," he heard the janitor angrily murmur behind him just when he was about to open the door. "I'll call security."

"Very good, do that," Danny replied with a flick of his left wrist and a humorless grin before he finally disappeared through the door – and he really meant what he had said; knowing his crazy partner they would probably need good backup very soon.

Quickly getting the janitor off his mind, Danny blinked a few times to adjust his eyes to the dim light as he looked around in surprise. He had expected a basement with storage or locker rooms or maybe a boiler room but he hadn't been aware of the fact that the hospital had an underground garage.

The sound of a starting engine grabbed his attention and without hesitation he turned to the right and headed towards the noise, his weapon at the ready. Trying to stay hidden in the shadows of cars and pillars, Danny sneaked across the parking level, drawing nearer and nearer to the sound of the running motor, quickening his steps when he heard a man cry out in pain and then the unmistakable sound of a hand-to-hand fight.

Danny rounded the next corner and there, right before his eyes, was the black GMC van they had been hunting for months without success. The entire left side of the vehicle was scratched and battered, it had a flat back tire and the side view mirror on the driver's side was completely missing. From Danny's current position he wasn't able to get a clear look into the driver's cab but he thought that he had just glimpsed a strand of long black hair before the driver retreated out of Danny's sight.

Taking in all those tiny little details in the blink of an eye, Danny's breath caught in his throat when he turned his attention to the ongoing fight. Hesitantly raising his weapon, he had to watch helplessly as Steve was mercilessly beaten by his much larger and heavier opponent but Danny didn't dare to fire a shot for fear of accidentally hitting his partner.

"Five-0, stop it," Danny exclaimed instead as he carefully approached the van, grimacing in sympathy when Steve's attacker landed a well-placed hit to Steve's injured shoulder, immediately followed by a punch to his left temple. Neither of the two men seemed to have taken notice of Danny's appearance, if anything the fight was increasing in speed and violence.

"Stop it," Danny yelled again, watching wide-eyed how Steve's head snapped around from the blow to his temple and collided forcefully with the back door of the van. Steve dazedly raised his right hand as he swayed on his feet but his attacker showed no mercy and grabbed a fistful of his short hair, violently banging his head against the van for a second time.

"Stop it," Danny desperately tried a third time, aiming his weapon at the two men. He still didn't have a clear line of fire so he had no other choice but to wait until the taller man had placed a last punch to Steve's jaw; judging from the way his partner slumped down in a boneless heap Danny assumed that he was out cold before his body had even hit the ground.

When the large dark-skinned man raised his right foot to place a final kick to Steve's head, Danny didn't hesitate and pulled the trigger once, twice and a third time until Steve's attacker finally began to waver. The man weakly raised his hands to the bleeding holes in his chest and took two staggering steps backwards, then he unceremoniously collapsed to the ground, his massive body coming to a rest next to Steve's unconscious form.

Right now, Danny couldn't care less if the man was injured or dead, all he wanted to do was take care of his partner, but he knew that first of all he had to make sure that Michael – or whoever was sitting behind the wheel of that damned van – didn't get away.

"Michael Freeman," Danny shouted over the noise of the engine as he slowly approached the black van. He briefly glanced at Steve, worriedly gritting his teeth when he saw a small pool of blood beneath his friends' head. "Turn off the engine and get out of the car, hands where I can see them."

But instead of dying down, the motor suddenly revved and the van jolted slightly. It was becoming obvious that it had been stuck ever since it had crashed against the ambulance but now it began to move slightly – forwards, backwards and forwards again in a steady rhythm and with every inch the car rolled backwards, it came closer to the two people who were lying motionless on the ground, only two or three feet away from the rear bumper and the back tires.

"Steve," Danny yelled in panic, immediately starting to race towards his partner when he noticed what was going to happen. "Steve, wake up, come on, you have to move." Danny's voice was echoing across the underground garage, easily drowning out the engine noise but apart from a faint twitching of his fingers McGarrett remained completely still.

Danny felt like he was running through stiff mud and he had the strange feeling that everything was happening in slow motion. He saw clearly how the vehicle rocked one inch forward, two inches back, three inches forward and so on, even though his gaze remained fixed on his friend.

"Come on Steve, wake up," the blond detective tried once more to rouse his partner, breathing out a small sigh of relief when he saw that Steve weakly rolled his head from one side to the other. Crouching down he placed his hands underneath Steve's armpits and started to drag, his head snapping around when the van suddenly jerked free with a screeching sound.

Danny knew that he would never in his entire life forget the sickening sound of a car running over a human body.

**(tbc)**

* * *

Do you love me too? ;-)


	18. Chapter 17

Thank you so much for sticking around until now and for all your fantastic reviews... I hope you still enjoy the story.

* * *

**Chapter 17:**

Pulling and dragging with all his might, Danny groaned hoarsely when he literally heard something snap in his lower right back. The popping sound was immediately followed by a searing pain that spread up his spine and down his legs, so intense that his vision started to gray around the edges.

Shaking his head to get rid of the sudden dizziness, Danny briefly squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to ignore the pain and increased his efforts to get Steve out of the van's way. "Come on Steve, you have to help a little bit," he hissed through gritted teeth, stumbling backwards on wobbly legs. Cold sweat was soaking the back of his shirt and the muscles in his arms started to tremble as he dragged Steve's limp form with him, as far away from the van as possible.

Steve finally started to move weakly just when Danny crashed backwards against one of the concrete pillars and slid down to the ground, trembling with exhaustion. Sitting next to his partner, Danny tried to catch his breath as he watched in absolute horror the scene that was playing only a few feet from their current position.

Despite the agonizing pain in his back, Danny had managed to drag Steve out of the way just in time but Michael's accomplice was definitely less fortunate; he had been lucky enough to survive the three gunshot wounds to his chest but now his laborious breaths turned into a gurgling cry when the van mercilessly ran over his battered body and then he twitched once before he lay completely still.

The car didn't stop but rocked back and forth two more times before it finally was completely free and dashed forward, almost colliding with another vehicle as it swerved dangerously to the side due to its flat tire.

Danny angrily narrowed his eyes when he finally got a good view into the driver's cab; Michael Freeman was hunched over the steering wheel, his pale face contorted with fury and pain. He briefly turned his head to look at the two cops, and for a short moment a derisive smile crossed his features when he took in their appearances, but then he just averted his eyes and accelerated the car.

Throwing a worried glance at his partner when he heard a low moan, Danny gently placed a hand on his friend's chest. "Stay down," he rasped when Steve's eyelids finally began to flutter and Steve uncoordinatedly raised his right hand toward his head. "Don't move," Danny whispered, swiftly grabbing Steve's hand to prevent him from touching the bleeding wounds. "Stay down," he stressed, wearily taking a deep breath before he determinedly struggled to his feet.

The blood was rushing loudly in his ears and he had to take hold of the pillar in order to keep his balance when black dots were dancing in front of his eyes. Blinking feverishly, Danny breathed heavily in and out as he leaned against the pillar, his whole body shaking with exhaustion and pain. He wished for nothing more than to just sit back down and close his eyes but he would be damned if he allowed Michael to get away.

By now the pain from his back had increased to a level where he felt a dull, agonizing throbbing with every beat of his heart and it was very difficult to think about anything else than that all-consuming pain but after a last glance at Steve who stared up at him out of bleary, unfocused eyes, Danny slightly shook his head and pushed himself off the pillar.

Looking down at his shaking hands Danny noticed in astonishment that the fingers of his right hand were still tightly clutching his weapon; it was a mystery to him how he had managed not to lose his gun in the last few minutes when he had dragged Steve to safety but right now he certainly didn't challenge that fact.

Staggering after the disappearing van Danny took a few deep calming breaths in a vain attempt to steady his trembling hands before he dejectedly shrugged his shoulders and pulled the trigger until his gun clicked empty. The vehicle already swerved to the left and right due to its flat back tire, making it even more difficult for Danny to stop the car but finally one of the bullets hit its goal and a second tire was bursting with a loud bang.

The black van turned around its own axis and almost toppled over, dangerously balancing on its two right tires before it crashed full force into two other cars. The motor of the van died down with a strange gurgling sound and for the blink of an eye it was deadly silent but then the alarm system of one of the parked cars flared to life with a high-pitched wailing sound that echoed eerily across the parking level.

Lowering his useless weapon Danny cautiously looked at the driver's cabin as he pondered his next steps. Sucking on his lower lip he briefly squeezed his eyes shut to fight a new onslaught of pain, startling in surprise when the driver's door of the van was suddenly torn open and Michael Freeman half jumped, half slipped out of the car.

Danny stared at the other man for a long moment, barely able to contain a hysterical laugh when he took in his appearance – Michael looked even worse than Danny was feeling at the moment, heavily leaning against the side of the car, his right arm uselessly hanging by his side. The right shoulder and sleeve of his yellow T-Shirt was soaked and a small but steady rivulet of blood was running down the length of his arm until it slowly dripped from his fingertips and formed a small puddle on the floor of the garage. Every now and then a slight shiver shook Michael's whole body, his face was pale with a slight sheen of sweat but his cheeks were colored with a sickly shade of red, showing clearly that the untreated gunshot wound to his right shoulder had probably becoming infected over the last few days.

But Michael didn't seem to take notice of his own condition; he pushed himself off the car and slowly reached into his pocket, producing a large butterfly knife and expertly flipping it open with his left hand. Arrogantly watching the cop in front of him, Michael started to smirk tauntingly as he cocked his head a little bit to the right. "Where's your lovely daughter?" he asked with a slight flick of his left wrist so that the knife shimmered faintly in the dim light of the parking level. "She was really fun to toy with."

Michael's voice was hoarse and barely audible over the deafening blaring of the alarm system but his comment cut through the noise like one of Danny's gunshots.

Trying his best to ignore Michael's taunting comment about his little girl, Danny raised his weapon in the hopes that he didn't have to use it; he counted on the fact that Michael probably didn't know that he had run out of bullets. "Michael Freeman," he said coldly, gritting his teeth to fight not only the anger about Michael's malicious smile but also the crippling pain that shot through his back with every beat of his heart. "You're under arrest. Drop your weapon and turn around with your hands behind your head."

Raising his eyebrows, Michael slowly started to shake his head, the smug little smile still playing across his lips. Another shiver of sickness ran through his body but he just took a deep breath and took a few large steps toward Danny, the knife in his left hand threateningly raised.

Responding reflexively, Danny stepped sideways to keep his balance and get a better stance but the abrupt movement sent a new wave of pain along his spine and his right leg suddenly gave way. He stumbled to the right, squeezing his eyes shut against the bout of dizziness, at the same time trying to suppress the pained groan that was building up in his chest.

Danny never knew if he was just lucky or if his years of experience as a cop kicked in but he opened his eyes just in time to defend himself against Michael's first attack. Yanking up his left hand, Danny slightly turned away, hissing in pain when the knife slightly slashed across his upper arm and tore open the sleeve of his shirt and the skin underneath. The wound was not deep, nothing more than a superficial scratch, but the additional pain and the initial shock of the attack made him stagger backwards and almost brought him to his knees.

Trying to ward off the next blow, Danny made the mistake of instinctively pulling the trigger of his gun, realizing immediately that this probably wasn't his cleverest move.

The two men stared at each other for the blink of an eye before Michael burst out in manic laughter when the gun clicked empty.

* * *

The wailing of the alarm system wasn't loud enough to drown out Michael's cackling laughter and Danny couldn't tell which sound was more annoying. Using his gun to parry off the next attack he tried his best to avoid another slash wound but even left-handed and despite his own severe injury, Michael was much too skilled in handling his weapon.

Easily evading Danny's clumsy attempts to protect himself, Michael wielded the knife with impressive ease, placing a second cut on Danny's left arm exactly on top of the first one. Crying out in pain Danny stumbled to the right and crashed against the side of the black van, breathing heavily to fight the darkness that threatened to overcome him when the collision sent a new wave of pain through his back. His legs started to give way and he instinctively reached back to keep himself upright; Danny's fingers scraped across the black and red car paint without anything to grab on and he felt himself slowly slide down to the ground, his back pressed against the cold metal of the van.

It was probably this unplanned movement that saved Danny's life.

Anticipating more than seeing Michael's next attack, Danny let himself instinctively drop down to the concrete floor. The air rushed from his lungs and black dots danced before his eyes when he ungracefully landed on his backside and a white-hot pain shot through his lower back. He even might have passed out for the blink of an eye because he never saw how the knife slashed through the air at the exact same height where a moment before his neck and carotid had been.

The next thing Danny perceived over the blaring of the car alarm was the sound of two gunshots; his eyes snapped open and he looked up just in time to see how the young man in front of him started to sway slightly. The knife suddenly dropped from Michael's grip and landed on the floor, missing Danny's right thigh only by a hair's breadth.

Michael had still been chuckling maliciously when the shots had hit his body but now he slowly blinked once, twice in stunned surprise before his laughter turned into a gurgling cough and his eyes glazed over as he slumped to the ground like a puppet whose strings have been cut.

For a moment Danny just stared wide-eyed at the motionless body at his feet before he raised his head and looked around in confusion, not really grasping what had just happened until his gaze finally found his partner.

Steve was still lying where Danny had left him, slightly propped on his injured left arm and holding the spare gun from his ankle holster in his visibly trembling right hand. His complexion was ashen, forming a stark contrast to the blood that covered part of his face and even in the dim light of the underground garage Danny was able to see the beads of sweat on his forehead. Exchanging a long knowing glance with his friend Steve nodded once before his eyes simply rolled back in his head and he collapsed to the ground, his fingers still limply curled around the handle of his weapon.

"Steve," Danny breathed out, fighting back his own pain and exhaustion as he struggled to his feet, heavily leaning against the side of the van until the feeling of lightheadedness decreased to a bearable level. Instinctively kicking Michael's knife out of reach even if it was clear that the man was dead and no longer posing a threat, Danny clutched his bleeding left arm and started to slowly limp towards his partner.

Danny had barely taken two steps forward when he heard loud voices and the patter of feet from the other end of the parking level, but with the loud wailing of the alarm system he wasn't able to decipher actual words or make out what exactly was going on.

Turning his head toward the commotion, Danny noticed in surprise that the underground garage was suddenly flooded with people; HPD officers and hospital security guards were cautiously approaching his position from all directions, their weapons at the ready.

Huffing out a relieved sigh, Danny startled when someone grabbed his right shoulder; he whirled around, ready to defend himself and Steve against whatever new threat he was facing right now, briefly closing his eyes when he recognized his teammate.

"Chin," Danny said hoarsely, smiling wearily at the older man. "I think I've never been so happy to see you."

"Hey Danny, are you alright?" Chin asked with a worried glance at Danny's bleeding arm and his overall appearance. "What happened?"

Silently opening and closing his mouth Danny shook his head and slightly shrugged his shoulders. The deafening noise of the alarm system made it almost impossible to concentrate on anything else and so he just tiredly waved his right hand through the air. He knew that he owed Chin an explanation but at the moment all he wanted to do was check on his partner and sit down – and not necessarily in that order.

"Check on Steve," Danny mumbled, squeezing his eyes shut when a new wave of dizziness crashed over him. He blindly groped around for support, sagging down a little bit when he felt Chin's strong hands offering support. Taking a deep breath he peeled his eyes open and threw the other man a pleading look. "Check on Steve," he repeated hoarsely, trying to break free from Chin's grip to look after his partner.

"Whoa Danny, take it easy," Chin replied, firmly holding Danny back as he nodded over his shoulder where two police officers were already kneeling by Steve's side, assessing his injuries. "Steve is in good hands," he added as he watched one of the officers talk into his radio, probably calling for medical help. "Now it's time for you to look after yourself, brah."

Stubbornly shaking his head Danny grimaced in pain when the wailing of the car alarm reached a new level; his whole body was numb, all he felt was the sharp pain from the cut on his upper arm and a dull pressure on his lower back.

"Can someone finally turn off that damn noise?" Chin shouted impatiently when he saw the lines of fatigue and pain on Danny's face. The tone in his voice clearly showed the level of concern he felt for his teammates but his posture immediately softened when he squeezed Danny's shoulders and gently tried to make the younger man sit down.

"I'm good," Danny murmured as he shook his head again, strongly determined to ignore his own injuries until he was sure that Steve was alright. "I'm good," he repeated, narrowing his eyes in confusion when he heard Chin involuntarily start to chuckle next to him, not realizing how much he sounded like Steve right now.

Moments later the blaring of the alarm system finally died down and the sudden, blissful silence roared loudly in everyone's ears.

"Thank God," Danny breathed out hoarsely, speaking out loud what everyone was thinking. Hearing the sound of a gurney that was rapidly pushed across the concrete floor toward their position, he finally allowed himself to relax a little bit when he saw a young, red-haired doctor and two nurses jogging ahead of the gurney and immediately taking care of Steve.

Danny suddenly started to shiver in the cool, damp air of the underground garage, noticing for the first time that his shirt was uncomfortably clinging to his back. He reached behind him to tug away the wet fabric, wincing when the movement twisted something in his back and the numb pressure from before turned once more into a white-hot burst of pain.

Swaying slightly on his feet Danny stared blankly at the fresh blood that covered his fingers, blinking sluggishly when his vision became blurry and his hand wavered in and out of focus. His whole body was now shaking – probably from the shock and adrenaline dump, the tiny voice of reason in the back of his mind tried to explain the current situation. Danny's breathing was coming in short, rapid gasps and he was barely able to hear Chin's voice over the blood that was rushing in his ears.

"Danny? Can you hear me? Are you alright?"

"Yeah…" Danny answered hesitantly, swallowing a few times against the dryness in his throat. He tried to raise his hands to scrub them across his face but his arms suddenly seem to weigh at least a ton and with an exhausted sigh he let them drop by his sides. "No…" he whispered, throwing a last glance at Steve who was just transferred onto the gurney before he looked up and met Chin's concerned gaze.

"Maybe sitting down is a good idea…" Danny drawled just before his knees gave way and he sagged senseless in Chin's grip.

**(tbc)**


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18:**

Slightly shaking his head, Chin stared absently at the cup of coffee in his hands without really seeing the dark liquid swirling inside the white plastic cup. He nervously shifted his weight a little bit to find a better position on the hard surface of the uncomfortable chair and let his gaze travel across the waiting area. Smiling sadly, Chin took the last sip of his coffee before he cautiously placed the empty cup onto the gray PVC floor and leaned back, briefly closing his eyes as he rested his head against the cold wall. The typical sounds and smells of a hospital always reminded him of Malia but now was not the time to dwell on those kind of thoughts; with some effort Chin managed to fight back the memories of his late wife and after a few deep breaths he opened his eyes and blinked away a veil of tears.

Sighing silently Chin shifted his thoughts to the events of the last few hours. He had absolutely no idea how everything had gone south so very fast. One minute he had been standing with Steve and Danny in their headquarters discussing their current case and now, barely four hours later, he was sitting in a crowded hospital floor, waiting for any word on his teammates.

Chin was certainly no medic but dating and marrying a doctor had taught him enough things to know that both men had not been in the best condition. Compared to Steve, who had been unconscious and bleeding from several head wounds when Chin had arrived at the underground garage, Danny had seemed relatively fine at first glance – until of course he also had collapsed, right in front of Chin and bleeding all over the place.

Shaking his head once more, Chin leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, hoping with all his heart that Steve and Danny would be alright. He briefly thought about informing Catherine but she was still on the mainland and calling her right now, with absolutely nothing to tell her about the extent of her boyfriend's injuries, would only worry her to no end so Chin decided to postpone the call until he had talked to Steve's doctor.

Wincing in surprise when his cell phone started to vibrate, Chin took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders to release a bit of the pent-up tension before he reached into his pocket and answered the phone. Talking to HPD was a welcome distraction and after ending the call a good twenty minutes later Chin was feeling a lot calmer than before. With Michael and all of his accomplices dead, the 'A-Team case' was finally solved after three frustrating months of hard work and dead ends. Sadly enough there were far too many casualties to be really happy about the outcome, counting not only Michael and his men but also his sister Stefanie. Chin had been informed that the surgeons had not been able to stop the new brain bleeding that she had suffered after her brother's attack and that the young vet had died on the operating table about an hour ago.

Grabbing the empty coffee cup, Chin stood up from the uncomfortable chair and strolled across the corridor toward the nearest garbage can. Throwing a look at the large coffee vending machine he briefly pondered about buying another coffee but quickly decided against it when he saw a red-haired doctor approaching him with large steps. The young man who had tended to Steve and Danny at the parking level looked tired, his hands deeply buried in the pockets of his white coat; he briefly stopped at the nurses' station to talk to one of the nurses and sign a few reports before he turned toward Chin and impatiently motioned him to come closer.

"Lieutenant Kelly?" the doctor asked rhetorically, clearing his throat before he continued. "Detective Williams is asking for you. Would you please come with me?" Without waiting for Chin's answer he turned around and headed for the elevator, confident that Chin would follow him.

Chin raised his eyebrows about the somewhat brisk behavior but then he slightly shrugged his shoulders and hurried after the younger man. Danny asking for him at least meant that he was awake, but the stern expression on the doctor's face did nothing to ease Chin's worry.

The red-haired doctor kept silent until the elevator closed behind the two men and he was sure that they were alone. "Detective Williams gave me permission to inform you about his condition," he explained while he tiredly pinched the bridge of his nose and unsuccessfully tried to stifle a yawn. "Sorry, long day," he murmured, flashing Chin an apologetic smile before he firmly rubbed his eyes. "Alright," the doctor said, squaring his shoulders as he locked eyes with Chin. "The two slash wounds on his left upper arm were no big issue, one of them was very superficial, the other one was a bit deeper and required some stitches but there was no major damage." He nodded once and sighed heavily, briefly running his hand through his short hair. "The damage to his back is a whole other matter. Detective Williams made it through surgery without problems but the surgery itself was…" the young man interrupted himself to search for the right word, rubbing the thumb of his right hand against the index and middle finger. "Well, let's say, it was a bit tricky."

"Tricky?" Chin repeated, worriedly furrowing his brow as he waited for further explanations.

"Due to the recent injury the damaged tissue had no chance to heal properly," the doctor continued with another small sigh. "As far as I know Detective Williams had the strict order not to strain his back but whatever he did down there in the underground garage not only re-opened the original wound but also further injured the surrounding area. We had a hard time to find enough healthy tissue to close the wound and in addition to that a few smaller blood vessels had been affected, so blood loss was also one of our concerns."

When the elevator came to a rest and the door opened with a soft hiss, the red-haired man stepped out into the corridor and once more motioned Chin to follow him until he finally stopped in front of a hospital room not far from the elevator.

"I believe that Detective Williams will make a full recovery," the young doctor said firmly, turning around to face Chin while he placed his left hand on the door handle. "But it is crucial that he does not move too much during the next two or three days to give the wound time to heal."

"So, he will be fine?" Chin asked, raising his eyebrows about the seriousness in the doctor's voice; sensing that there was probably more, he felt a twinge of nervousness while he impatiently waited for an answer.

"Yes, he will be fine," the doctor confirmed with a sharp nod of his head. "But as I said, it is extremely important that he remains calm and right now he is more than a little agitated."

Narrowing his eyes when the penny had finally dropped, Chin took a deep breath and asked as calmly as possible, "Doctor, what can you tell me about Steve's… Commander McGarrett's injuries?" He knew immediately that Steve's condition had to be the reason for Danny's agitation.

"Lieutenant Kelly," the red-haired doctor answered hesitantly, sighing silently as he pursed his lips. "I'm sorry but you know that the doctor-patient confidentiality doesn't allow…"

Raising his hands, Chin interrupted the younger man mid-sentence. "I know that you are not allowed to tell me about his condition, and I certainly don't want you to do something illegal," he started, briefly grimacing as he pondered his next words. Chin knew it was not correct to urge the young doctor but he also knew that Steve would probably not mind having him know about his state of health – especially if it meant sparing Danny additional injuries and pain. "Why can't we look at it this way: I'm a police officer investigating a crime and I need you to tell me about the victim's injuries," Chin suggested, giving the doctor the possibility to talk about Steve's condition without violating his oath. He cringed inwardly when he thought about his words, hoping with all his might that Steve would never find out that he had just been labeled as a victim.

The young doctor remained silent for a long moment, averting his eyes and staring down at his left hand; he nervously tapped his fingers on the door handle before he finally took a deep breath and nodded hesitantly. "Alright," he murmured, more to himself than to Chin who waited patiently for the doctor's decision. "Alright," the red-haired man repeated a little louder, raising his head to meet Chin's gaze. "I've read a lot about Five-0 and from what I've heard the members of your team are very closely linked. You are almost like a family?" His voice was soft but dark with solemnity and he never blinked once when he looked into Chin's eyes. "I trust you to treat the information I'm going to give you as confidential."

"Of course," Chin replied sincerely, knowing that he didn't have to say more; of course he would never betray his team's – his family's – trust.

"Alright," the doctor said a third time, taking a moment to gather his thoughts. "Commander McGarrett has yet to regain consciousness which by itself it not really a matter of concern, considering the injuries he had sustained." He let go of the door handle to briefly rub the back of his neck before he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "However the CAT scan showed a small cerebral bleeding which is cause for concern and which will be monitored very closely. There's a good chance that it will recede on its own and that the Commander wakes up in the next 24 hours but if not we will have to discuss further options of treatment, maybe even surgery. But we are not there yet and we will decide on the best course of action at the appropriate time." He sighed silently and slightly shook his head as he unfolded his arms and resumed his grip around the door handle. "Beside the head injury there was some further trauma to his already damaged left arm and shoulder but we can do nothing about that but immobilize the limb and give it time to heal."

"So, there's nothing we can do at the moment?" Chin asked, already dreading the conversation he was going to have with Danny in a few moments. If the Jersey cop had got the same information about Steve's condition, it was more than understandable that he was agitated and worried about his partner.

Giving Chin an apologetic little smile, the red-haired doctor slowly shook his head. "As I said, the next 24 hours will tell. Right now we should concentrate on Detective Williams' well-being and make sure that he's going to get the rest he needs to recover."

"I understand, I'll handle it," Chin answered with a lot more confidence than he actually felt, stretching out his right arm to shake the other man's hand. "Thank you, Doctor…"

"Evans," the young man replied as he took Chin's offered hand and returned the handshake, smiling the first real smile since Chin had met him. "Good luck, Lieutenant."

Wordlessly raising his eyebrows at the comment, Chin watched how Dr. Evans quietly opened the door to the hospital room and motioned a young nurse who was just checking the IV bags at the head of the bed to leave the room. "He's still fighting the aftereffects of the anesthetic," the doctor said in a low whisper, briefly pointing at Danny who was propped to his left side to keep pressure from the surgical wound in his back. "His vital parameters are acceptable but it's really important that he stays calm," Dr. Evans repeated, taking a step backwards to give Chin enough space to enter the room.

Giving the doctor an affirmative nod, Chin waited until the door was closed behind his back before he took a deep breath and silently stepped closer to Danny's bed, worriedly watching the younger man for a short moment. Danny's eyes were tightly squeezed shut as he obviously tried his best to keep his breathing slow and even, probably to fight the lingering nausea judging by the emesis bowl next to his head.

"Hey Danny, how are you?" Chin asked quietly, trying to keep the concern for his teammates from his voice. "You look much better than the last time I saw you."

That last sentence was a downright lie because Danny's complexion was pale with a touch of sickly green and beads of sweat were covering his forehead. His usually well-tended hair was plastered to his head, damp from sweat, and his right hand that tightly clutched the white bed sheet was visibly trembling.

Danny's eyes snapped open when he heard Chin's voice and his breathing rate involuntarily increased. If possible he turned even paler, blinking rapidly as he stared blearily at his teammate.

"Chin," he croaked out, licking his cracked lips as he struggled to sit up.

"What do you think you're doing, brah?" Chin asked with an exasperated shake of his head, quickly approaching the bed and placing a hand on Danny's right shoulder to keep him from moving. "You're supposed to rest."

"They won't let me see Steve," Danny answered hoarsely, weakly trying to shrug off Chin's hand. "You're gonna help me," he said with as much determination as he could muster, staring pleadingly at his teammate before he suddenly squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth, swallowing forcefully a few times. He blindly groped around for the emesis bowl, pressing his lips together as he tried to fight off a new bout of nausea. After almost a minute of shakily breathing in and out, Danny tentatively opened his eyes and squinted at Chin who sympathetically looked down at him, his hand still on Danny's shoulder to provide as much comfort as possible.

"I don't think that's the best idea you've ever had," Chin replied calmly, leaving it to Danny to judge his current condition rather than trying to talk some sense into the younger man. He knew that Danny was desperate to see his partner and that he definitely was stubborn enough to try everything humanly possible but he also knew that Danny was no fool and given time he would accept his current bodily limitation. "Listen Danny," Chin added with a little sigh when he felt the slight tremble of Danny's muscles underneath his fingers, willing him to finally relax. "Dr. Evans told me about Steve's condition. I know you're worried; I'm feeling the same way. But at the moment there's nothing we can do for him, okay? Right now you just have to look after yourself and make sure you get better."

Frowning half-heartedly at his teammate, Danny stubbornly shook his head. "Need to see Steve," he insisted but this time he completely lacked the energy to fight and plopped back into the pillows with a soft moan, his body still tense under Chin's touch.

Chin sighed silently as he watched how Danny once more squeezed his eyes shut, his complexion still almost as white as the bed sheets, but finally without the hint of sickly green. "Do you really think Steve would want you to hurt yourself just to be at his side?" the Asian man tried a different approach, smiling slightly when he felt Danny relax a little bit.

"Not fair," Danny grumbled under his breath, still not completely convinced, as he slowly opened one eye and owlishly glared at his friend.

"If not for yourself, then at least do it for Grace. She needs you, brah," Chin replied sincerely, feeling just a tiny bit of remorse at using Danny's daughter to calm him down. But he knew that Danny would do everything for his little girl and mentioning Grace was usually the easiest way to make Danny agree to almost anything.

However this time Chin's words seemed to have the complete opposite effect of what he intended to reach, because Danny's breath suddenly caught in his throat and his whole body was going rigid while he slowly started to tremble.

"Grace," Danny exclaimed, feverishly looking around as he slapped Chin's hand away and once more tried to sit up. "What time is it? I need to pick her up… I need…"

"Danny, calm down!"

Chin's voice was unusually loud and with an aura of undeniable authority that caused Danny to immediately stop struggling and turn his head to face the older man.

"Whoa, that was really impressive," Danny said slowly as he stared wide-eyed at his teammate, briefly forgetting all his worry about his partner or his daughter. "You really scared me for a second."

"Good," Chin replied dryly, placing his hand back on Danny's shoulder and gently but firmly forced him to lie back down. "Good," he repeated, nodding contentedly when Danny closed his eyes and wearily rubbed his face, but he was already prepared for the next outburst that he knew would follow soon. Throwing a quick look at his watch, he took a deep breath and asked calmly, "When and where do you need to pick her up?"

"Five thirty, Pacific Club, tennis lesson," Danny rasped, weakly thrashing around to break free from Chin's grip. "Chin, please, I need to get up. Let me go."

"Danny, calm down," Chin interrupted him, using the same words as before. He waited a second until he was sure that he had Danny's undivided attention before he added gently, "It's barely 4 p.m. We have all the time in the world, okay?"

"Oh," Danny replied, blinking a few times as Chin's word slowly penetrated his agitated mind. "Oh, okay," he finally huffed out, raising a trembling hand to rub his forehead. "Sorry," he added sheepishly after a moment of contemplation, flashing the other man a wry little smile.

"It's alright, don't worry," Chin answered, waving off Danny's apology with a flick of his wrist. The two men stared silently at each other for a short moment before Chin suggested calmly, "How about this? I go and see if Steve is allowed any visitors, then I come back here and tell you about his condition." He quickly raised his right hand to prevent Danny from interrupting him. "Afterwards I'll pick up Grace. She can stay with me until we find something more suitable than the house of a grumpy old hermit."

"You're not a grumpy old hermit," Danny chimed in, indignantly shaking his head about Chin's comment.

"But you have to promise me to take care of yourself and stay in bed, okay?" Chin continued without taking notice of Danny's interruption, locking eyes with the other man as he patiently waited for Danny's affirmation.

"OK, fine," Danny finally huffed out in annoyance when it was clear that he was not able to convince Chin to help him up. "You are a tough adversary, Chin Ho Kelly. I'm glad we're usually on the same side."

Bursting out in a hearty laugh, Chin wordlessly slapped his hand on Danny's shoulder, at the same time noticing contentedly that the younger man was now looking a lot better than before.

"But are you sure you want to take Grace?" Danny asked, grimacing briefly when he shifted his weight to get a better look at his teammate. "I really can't ask that of you. You have no idea what you're volunteering for, buddy." He grimaced again when he thought about Grace's current passion for boy bands and their mushy love songs. "She will torture you with her favorite songs all day long and I can assure you that her current taste in music is even worse than Steve's… which is saying something."

"Don't worry, brah," Chin said good-humoredly. "I practically raised Kono. Believe me; I know exactly what I'm in for."

"So it's all your fault?" Danny retorted, grinning smugly. His cheeks showed a touch of color and he was no longer sweating, both sure signs that he was indeed feeling better. "Alright, but just promise me that you won't spoil my little girl and turn her into another crazy, surfing sharpshooter like your cousin."

"Do you want me to tell Kono what you just said about her?" Chin asked, raising his eyebrows in feigned naivety but his eyes sparkled good-naturedly as he looked down at Danny.

"God, no," Danny answered forcefully, still brightly grinning as he shook his head. "She's gonna kill me and hide my body parts where no one will ever find my remains."

"You're probably right, brah," Chin laughed out loud, suddenly hoping with all his heart that Kono was fine and that she would finally find what – or who – she was looking for. He really missed her and he couldn't wait to have her back on the island.

Shoving the bittersweet thoughts about his cousin back to the rearmost corner of his mind, Chin sighed silently and slightly shook his head. Right now he had enough to do worrying for the rest of his Ohana, he definitely didn't have the energy to also dwell on Kono's well-being.

"Okay Danny, you stay where you are and try to get some rest," Chin instructed, his voice calm and friendly but with an undertone that left no room for objection. Throwing a last look at his friend he slowly walked toward the door. "I'll be back soon," he promised, hoping to provide good news once he had seen Steve.

But his hopes were cut short when the door to Danny's hospital room suddenly flew open, revealing a somewhat agitated Dr. Evans. "Detective Williams, Lieutenant Kelly?" the red-haired man said breathlessly, nodding sharply toward the two men who looked at him in stunned surprise.

"Doc…" Danny breathed out hoarsely, his voice trailing off mid-sentence. He stared wide-eyed at the newcomer, nervously sucking his lower lip as his gaze darted back and forth between his teammate and the young doctor.

Feeling the tension that radiated from Danny, Chin quickly stepped back to the bed and once more placed his hand on Danny's right shoulder to make clear that whatever news the doctor would bring, they would face it together.

Watching the display of friendship between the two men in front of him, Dr. Evans took a deep breath and slowly started to smile as he finally explained his sudden appearance, "I just wanted to inform you that Commander McGarrett has just woken up."

**(tbc)**

* * *

Only one more chapter to go...


	20. Epilogue

Thank you so much for sticking around until the end, for all your great reviews and for all the favorites and alerts. You are the best!  
And thank again to **JazzieG** and **rewob17** for all your help with this story :-)

* * *

**Epilogue:**

"Leave that damned sling alone, Steven," Danny repeated impatiently for the umpteenth time in the last few hours, rolling his eyes in annoyance when he saw his partner fiddle with said item on his left arm. "Or I swear to God, I'll drag your ass back to the hospital…"

"Oh, I don't think so, Danno," Steve interrupted him, grinning smugly at the smaller man before he raised his eyebrows and grabbed a bottle of beer from the table in his backyard. "You know what the doctor said about carrying anything heavier than a bottle of water, right?" he said, taking a sip from his bottle as he winked at his friend.

"You know what the doctor said, right?" Danny parroted grumpily, cautiously leaning forward to take his own bottle from the table without straining his healing back too much. Narrowing his eyes he watched the bright grin on Steve's face and slowly started to shake his head. "Enjoying yourself, McGarrett?"

"Immensely," Steve chuckled good-humoredly, putting the Longboard back onto the table and wrapping his right, uninjured arm around Grace who was sitting contentedly between him and her father.

"I should have left you in that underground garage, right where you decided to take a nap," Danny muttered into his bottle before he swallowed the rest of his beer in one large gulp, but everyone knew that he didn't mean it and that he would never have left his partner and friend.

Chin involuntarily started to grin when the banter between Steve and Danny was going back and forth for another few minutes, thinking that sometimes those two were really acting like an old married couple. "You know what?" he asked drily when both men finally fell silent for a moment. "I can now see why they kicked you out of the hospital…"

The rest of his sentence was drowned out by the thundering laughter around the table and even Steve and Danny couldn't help but join in the general cheerfulness, smirking at each other.

After almost a week in a shared hospital room they had managed to drive everyone – including themselves – crazy and the medical staff was more than glad to release the two friends prematurely if there was someone around to take care of them. With Cath still visiting her brother and her newborn niece on the mainland and Grace not really counting as caregiver, Chin had more or less voluntarily agreed to jump in and look after his teammates.

He honestly had no idea how he had survived the last two days because after a certain amount of time, the constant bickering between Steve and Danny had even started to get on Chin's nerves, despite his usual Zen-like attitude. But with Catherine's arrival scheduled for early the next morning Chin hoped that with her and Grace's help he would be able to keep the two men in line until they would finally be cleared for light duty in a few days.

"They didn't kick us out," Steve and Danny huffed out indignantly with one voice, which elicited another outburst of laughter from Chin's guests. Kamekona, Max, Charlie, Duke Lukela and a small crowd of friends and relatives had joined the party at Steve's place which was not only a belated birthday present for Chin but at the same time a welcome home party for the two injured members of Five-0.

"Did you like your presents, Uncle Chin?" Grace asked curiously once the laughter had died down and everyone was sitting together in small groups, chatting and amusing themselves in the cool evening breeze. She had left her place at Steve's side a while ago and was now curled up on her father's lap like a giant human kitten, blinking tiredly as she tried to stifle a yawn.

"I did indeed," Chin answered, turning around to throw a look at the hand-made picture frame that Grace had given him, artfully decorated with colorful shells and pebble stones. "Very much so," he said, smiling brightly at Danny's daughter who proudly beamed back at him. "Thank you, Gracie."

Danny had told him that Grace had spent weeks searching for the shells and stones to find exactly what she had in mind and she had not only decorated the picture frame but also the wrapping paper so that the outside matched the present itself.

Chin's gaze flickered to his left wrist and to the new diver's watch that he had received from his teammates, together with a voucher for a scuba diving excursion to a sunken WWII navy vessel offshore Oahu. The corners of his mouth twitched in amusement when he thought about Danny's verbose assertion that he had absolutely nothing to do with the colorful wrapping of the watch but Chin started to chuckle in earnest when he remembered Steve's proud nod that had followed Danny's statement; the Ex-SEAL had obviously totally missed the essence of his partner's words, a fact that in turn had caused Danny to roll his eyes and shake his head in feigned desperation.

"Thank you, guys," Chin said when he caught Danny's curious gaze, raising his left hand to proudly show them the watch as he gave thanks to his friends for at least the fourth or fifth time that evening. "That's one of the best presents I've ever got."

"You're very welcome," Danny answered, waving off Chin's thanks with a flick of his wrist before he added with a twinkle in his eyes. "As long as you don't expect me to join you…"

His voice trailed off and he leaned forward to press a tender kiss on top of Grace's head. Noticing that his daughter was barely awake, rubbing her eyes and yawning loudly every other minute, Danny locked eyes with his partner and nodded slightly.

Returning the nod, McGarrett audibly cleared his throat and leaned forward in his chair. "Hey Gracie," he said gently, waiting patiently until the girl finally looked up at him. "We also have a present for you. Do you want to see it?"

"A present for me?" Grace replied, suddenly fully awake in the blink of an eye. "Why?" she asked as she sat up straighter and turned her head to look at her father.

"Well, actually it's not exactly a present for you, monkey," Danny answered, giving Grace a kiss on the cheek and a tender hug before he gently shoved her from his lap so that he was able to get up.

Taking a small step to the side, Danny was now standing in a row next to Steve and Chin, all three men facing Grace who stared wide-eyed back at them, nervously knotting her fingers, not sure what to expect.

"Relax, monkey," Danny whispered with a gentle smile, briefly winking at his daughter before he got serious and stood to attention, just like his teammates next to him. A few people – like Charlie and Max, who had helped preparing the surprise – already knew what was going to happen but very slowly the conversations around them died down until it was deadly silent and everyone was watching expectantly the scene in front of them.

Grace was still suffering from the aftereffects of what had happened all those days ago and she'd often wake up from a nightmare or unexpectedly start to cry silently during the day. After a lot of prodding Danny had finally found out that his daughter was still blaming herself for what had happened at the vet clinic. "If Mr. Hoppy hadn't got ill, we would never have gone there and the bad man would never have hurt you," she had sobbed piteously against her father's chest a few days ago at the hospital but whatever Danny would say, he just wasn't able to comfort her or convince her of the contrary.

Having seen that their friend was at his wits' end and almost in tears himself, Steve and Chin had forced Danny to tell them about Grace's fears and after a long, tiring discussion the three men had finally come up with an idea – or a plan of attack as Steve had insisted on calling it.

"Grace Williams, please step forward," Steve said formally, his voice loud and clear but his eyes sparkled affectionately when he looked at his adopted niece who threw a brief look at her father before she took a deep breath and did what Steve had asked of her.

"Today we want to thank and honor Grace Williams and her partner…" Steve made a short pause when he saw the confused expression on Grace's face, the corners of his mouth twitching as he tried to keep a straight face. "… Mr. Hoppy. Without the help of these two, HPD and Five-0 would never have been able to solve their latest case. Especially Mr. Hoppy's input led us directly to the vet clinic where we finally found our main suspect. Because of some very unfortunate circumstances, Detective Williams…" Steve interrupted himself again and briefly nodded toward his partner, "…had been taken hostage and it was only due to Grace Williams' fast and well-wrought reaction that the situation could have been solved with only minor injuries."

Danny, Steve and Chin had agreed to downplay the hostage situation as well as Danny's injuries, hoping to make clear that Grace had done everything right and that what had happened was definitely not her fault.

Studying the display of emotions on Grace's young face, McGarrett kept silent for almost a minute until he was sure that the girl had grasped the meaning of his speech before he cleared his throat and declared solemnly, "Grace Williams, Mr. Hoppy, today we want to appoint you as honorary members of Five-0 and promote both of you to the rank of honorary officers."

Steve waited until the approving whistling and happy murmuring around him had died down before he asked quietly, "Unfortunately your partner was not able to attend the ceremony tonight, so I'm asking you, Miss Williams, would you accept the award on behalf of Mr. Hoppy?"

Unable to utter a coherent sentence, Grace just stared wide-eyed at her uncle and nodded hesitantly. "Yes," she whispered hoarsely, taking a deep breath and willing herself to stand still.

"Alright," Steve gave her a short smile before he turned his head and nodded toward his partner. "Detective Williams, would you be so kind?" he asked, reaching into his pocket and handing Danny two small blue and golden badges that looked exactly like the real Five-0 badges but were only about half their size.

"With pleasure," Danny replied seriously as he took a step forward and cautiously crouched down in front of his daughter. Gently grabbing Grace's hand he placed the badges onto her palm and kept his fingers curled around her smaller ones.

"Honorary Officer Williams, it is an honor to award you these badges," Danny said, smiling tenderly at his daughter who had finally started to enjoy the situation, her eyes sparkling with pride and joy. "You and Honorary Officer Hoppy are a great addition to our team."

He bent forward and placed a kiss on Grace's forehead but before the girl was able to say a word Steve and Chin had joined father and daughter, crouching down next to Danny and complimenting Grace on her new rank.

Staring down at the two badges in her hands, Grace felt like a huge load had suddenly been taken off her mind; her fears disappeared into thin air and from one second to the next she started to laugh happily.

"Thank you Danno, thank you Uncle Steve, thank you Uncle Chin," Grace said over and over again, her words drowned out by the thunderous applause from the people around her as she hugged each man in turn. "Thank you so much."

* * *

"Hey Chin, thanks for sharing your party with us, it was a great evening," Danny said sincerely when all guests had finally left the party and Grace had peacefully dozed off on the couch. "We had it all planned for your actual birthday but then… yeah, well you know…" His voice trailed off as he waved his hands through the air and briefly pointed at the sling at Steve's arm and then at himself.

"Yeah man, thank you," Steve repeated, wrapping his good arm around Chin's shoulder. His words were a little bit slurred and he blinked sluggishly while he tried to lock eyes with the older man.

"You're welcome," Chin replied, quickly grabbing Steve's arm when his boss swayed slightly on his feet. He had always thought that all sailors were able to hold their drinks but that obviously didn't include Steve, at least not tonight. Chin's gaze flickered from Steve to Danny, pondering for a moment if he could leave the two men alone in good conscience but he knew that Danny never drank too much when he had Grace around and indeed Danny's eyes were bright and clear when he caught Chin's gaze and nodded slightly to indicate that he had everything under control.

"I'm really sorry we spoiled your birthday the other day," Steve drawled, grinning sheepishly as he slapped his hand at Chin's shoulder, thinking back to said day at the vet clinic.

"Yes, sorry about that," Danny chimed in, winking at Chin from behind Steve's back as he added in a low murmur. "And sorry for the wrapping of your present."

Laughing out loud Chin made sure that Steve was steady on his feet before he carefully wiggled himself out of the taller man's half-drunken hug and slowly headed for the exit. He was still chuckling quietly when he opened the door but then he turned around and looked back at his teammates.

"I think I've said it before, there's no need to apologize. The main thing is that everyone is alright," Chin said seriously, waiting a moment to let his words sink in before a content little smile slowly crept across his face. "And by the way… who needs presents or birthday parties when he's got a family like ours?" he asked, talking not only about Five-0 and Grace but about everyone else who had been present at the party and was part of their constantly growing Ohana.

**THE END**


End file.
